The Enemy of My Enemy
by SPAZZZ
Summary: This goes through most of the Soul Calibur games and intertwines with a lot of Maxi's history. Esther, a girl who witnessed the deaths of her parents at the hands of an ax wielding monster has a secret desire for revenge, that is discovered when she finds an injured man washed up on the river by her village. I'm terrible at summaries, there is a much better one inside.
1. Prologue, The Stranger

Author's Note-

The first thing to understand about this story is that yes...it has an OC. However, honestly Soul Calibur is, in my opinion, a story that OC's can actually fit in (if done correctly) naturally, as the games constantly add new characters and parts to the story.

This is an idea I have always thought of, but never had the motivation to write, though now as I write this I'm finding it a crap ton easier to write than any other fanfiction I have ever done. I can thank the Soul Calibur games and their sufficient amount of character and plot story for that. I can't believe I didn't start on this sooner!

Also, please note that the rating of this story may change, due to some later but rather light adult themes, which will be treated as necessary to the plot. I'm keeping it at T for now, because I'm still trying to decide how things will go in that subject.

Better Summary:

Like I said in the other summary, this will go through most of the SC games. Esther witnessed the grisly murder of her parents at the hands of a monster with an ax (yeah, you all know who that is.). Several years later, now living with her adopted family in a small remote village in 14th century Germany, she trains secretly in the arts of double fencing (a fighting style where one dual wields fencing swords) due to her traditional foster mother's disapproval. One day, as she is walking along the river near her village, she comes upon Maxi, who is severely wounded and takes him back to her village. Other adventures will happen as the story goes on!

And I can't tell you much else, so you'll have to read it! :)

* * *

**Prologue—The Abomination**

* * *

_There was so much blood._

_Little Esther couldn't make a sound, not even a whisper, as she stared almost disbelievingly at the horror before her. Her knees locked up, her breathing paused, the nine year old girl stayed seated on the stairs. Before her, were the lifeless bodies of her parents, their blood merely being puddles which ran underneath them like a spilled glass of water._

_Being the small and vulnerable child she was, all she could do was stare up at the massive man—no this was not a man, this was an abomination—who had just taken the lives of those who meant the most to her. It appeared that the same fate was about to happen to her._

_He didn't even say anything. He only gave her a silent stare, without expression, through that hefty mask which covered his mouth and nose. _

_Heaving his ax back up, which was covered in blood, he slowly prepared to end her life as well. It was obvious that he knew she wasn't going anywhere, and he was amused by her increasing fear._

_Esther's cheeks served as a running surface for the tears pouring uncontrollably out of her eyes. She did not sniffle or whimper, she only stared wide-eyed at the blade of the ax, which would in moments send her into blackness. As she prepared for the end, she did not make a sound, nor could she find the ability to move._

_Well, at least until the last second._

_She didn't know what it was, but something in her screamed at her to move, almost too late. Rolling out of the way, the ax had grazed her eye, but for the most part she was alive. Her vision hindered, and blood filling her right eye, she kept a hand to it and ran for her life._

Her eyes slowly opened to see nothing. Nothing but the deep blue color cast on her simple room. Nothing but the dim moonlight that poured in through the crack of her curtains.

She let a single relieved sigh escape before turning over in her bed. The monster was gone, and he had been for many years now. There was nothing to fear anymore. All that remained were the memories.

And the nightmares.

* * *

**Chapter 1—The Stranger**

* * *

Today was just an ordinary day in her village by the river. Or at least it started out that way.

It all began with an early rising, about seven in the morning more precisely. Esther dressed herself in whatever way she saw practical, and headed out towards the forest, just a mile from her home. She was careful not to wake anyone else in the house, for her foster parents disapproved greatly of her early morning sword practices.

Quietly adjusting the swords in their sheaths, then strapping them around her waist, she advanced to open the door. It creaked slightly, which caused her to flinch. However, she continued onward and out the door.

_A little bit colder than I had anticipated..._She observed, tucking her coat collar a little more comfortably around her neck. Oh well, the activities she was about to engage in would hopefully solve her problem.

She had little over an hour before she would have to come home, sneak back in her bed and pretend as if she hadn't actually gone out. That meant she needed to get to her decided location quickly, and return quickly too.

Stepping over a stream, she thought, _Damn. I should have awakened sooner. Now I'll only have forty minutes or so. Ugh...Teacher is going to be so upset with me..._ She picked up her pace. Now was not the time for self scolding, she had a practice to get to! Besides, all of this contemplating would only serve to slow her down.

At last, she reached the opening between the thickening trees. Pushing a branch out of her way, she slid down the loosened forest dirt and into the small path, a path which she had made for herself during all of these trips to her 'training grounds'.

Her teacher, who was a woman in her village named Seras, was seated on a tree branch, just ten feet off the ground. She had her legs crossed, and one hand supporting her weight on the tree branch. The fingers on that hand tapped the branch impatiently.

"You're late," She commented, no tone to her voice. It was often difficult to tell just what her teacher was feeling, how angry she was, or whether she was serious or not due to her unvaried body language and voice tones.

Esther frowned and dipped her head apologetically. "S...sorry..."

"Don't apologize to me. You're the one who is the most impacted by your delay. Now we won't have enough time to work on some things."

"I know, I know." She sighed drew her swords from their sheaths. "So what are we to work on today, teacher?"

The woman shook her head and dropped lightly from the tree, drawing her own pair of deadly looking swords. "How many times have I told you not to call me that? My name is Seras."

Esther rolled her eyes. "Are we going to discuss what to call you or are we going to get down to training? We don't have much time you know."

Seras readied herself into a fighting position. "Now now, we wouldn't have that problem if a certain someone wasn't late, now would we? Now get into stance and come at me."

* * *

Esther closed the door behind her as quietly as she could. Though, it was hard to get away with anything because of that damned creaking.

Hopefully no one heard. She highly doubted it, everyone she lived with slept like rocks, another defining trait that set her apart from them.  
Walking on the fronts of her feet, she made her way past the ladder and almost into the hallway. Almost.

"Now what are you doing up so early in the morning?'

_Dammit._

She searched her mind for anything that would work as a suitable alibi. "I was just outside, on a little sunrise-"

"Save it, Esther. We both know that you've been sneaking off every morning for weeks, practicing with that Seras lady." Her foster mother, Ophelia, stood with her hands on her hips, a disappointed look on her face.

"How did you find out?"

"Really? You want to ask me that?" The small woman shook her head in disbelief. "The clanging of those swords every morning, CLING CLANG TING! And not to mention, how could I not hear that door?"

Esther frowned. "I didn't realize your hearing was in such remarkable shape..."

"I'm a mother, there is no need for an explanation."

Leah, Esther's foster sister, came from around the corner. Wearily, she yawned,"What's with all the noise?"

"It's nothing, you should go back to sleep." Esther answered.

Ophelia rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Nothing? Oh, so disobedience and sneaking off into the forest to go sword dancing with some village hooligan means nothing to you?"

"That's not what I mean! And Seras is not a hooligan! She's my friend, and she happens to actually care about my well being!"

"Esther, you know that I love you, and I've forbidden you from sword fighting because of that. A woman is not suited for wielding a sword and slaying monsters, and I wish you would realize that. You need to leave all this silly nonsense behind, and start acting like a normal girl of your age! You can start by obeying your mother."

She couldn't take it anymore. The stress and all of this anger that she had bottled up inside finally had to be let go.

"You're not my mother and you never will be!" She screamed, tears edging at her eyes as she pushed her way past a very shocked Ophelia and ran out the door.

* * *

At that moment in her life, Esther was cursing everyone, but mainly herself. She shouldn't have reacted like that. Ophelia was just trying to do what she thought was best for her, like parents do. As much as she wanted to argue, she was definitely in the wrong. She shouldn't have been sneaking about, and she especially shouldn't have yelled such a horrible thing at the person who had taken care of her so lovingly after her parents had died.

Now all she could do was walk guiltily along the river banks, too ashamed to return home. _I'm sure that Ophelia is crying her eyes out by_ thought, wanting to cry as well. And so, she did.

After walking for a bit with tears threatening to pop out at any moment, she succumbed by falling to the soft river bank. An outbreak of sobs escaped her body, and all she could do was cover her eyes with her hands.

What could have caused her to do such a horrible thing anyways? Today she was causing problems for everyone. It started out with her showing up late to her practice and inconveniencing Seras, and now she'd gone and hurt the feelings of her foster mother. Alright, that was only two people, but the guilt still weighed down on her.

These tears didn't feel purely guilt induced though. Yes, that was a huge part of it, but by the way she was trembling and this feeling of an impending doom coming swiftly upon her said that there was another part of it. Reoccurring memories and nightmares seemed to be tormenting her even more so lately. No matter how many times she'd try to comfort herself by reminding herself that the monster was gone, fear had seemed to find itself within her heart yet again.

"Great, now I'm a fearful coward and an ungrateful brat." She sniffled, wiping her tears away.

She'd been sitting out here for a good ten minutes, her head buried into her knees. It was time for her to move past her petty struggles and find a way to apologize to Ophelia. Looking up, she let her tears sink back into her eyes and disappear somewhat.

However, it was when she looked to her side, she noticed something she really should have noticed before.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, standing up immediately.

A man lay at the river bank, most of his torso out of the water, but most of his legs were still under the current of the water. He appeared to be unconscious and severely wounded. Bruises and cuts were everywhere on his body, his clothes stained with his own blood. The staggering rise and fall of his chest told her that he was still breathing, but needed attention as quickly as possible.

"Help! Is anyone out there?!" She called out. "Help!"

It was useless calling for assistance. Even if anyone was up, they wouldn't be able to hear her from so far away. Would she have time to run back to the village and perhaps grab some helpers there? Esther didn't want to take any chances. This man would die by the time that she came back with help.

Left with no other choice, she quickly knelt by his side to check where the worst wounds were at. There was one particularly bad one just above his hip, a fairly bad gash on his right upper leg, and to make matters worse, a couple ribs appeared to be broken.

"God...I don't even know what to do..." She looked around her again for anything that would be of use to her, but of course there was nothing. The village was almost a mile away, so she could probably carry him there, but his wounds were so bad that it made her hesitant to do so.

The man took in a rather jagged breath, then began a small coughing fit. Blood started to come up, and it looked like he was going to choke on it. A startled Esther put a hand under his head, gently lifting it up so that he would at least stop choking.

She didn't have the time to consider her options. She needed to get him some help quickly.

When the coughs died down, she used her sleeve to wipe away some of the blood from his mouth. "Hold on," She whispered soothingly into his ear as she began to hoist him over her shoulder. "Just hold on for a little longer."

He let out a small groan at the feeling of his position changing, and she knew that it must have been rather uncomfortable, especially with his broken ribs. However, she had to move him. She didn't let the feeling of his blood soaking into her shirt or running from the cut on his shoulder onto her neck bother her. She'd seen much worse, and his life meant more than the squeamish feelings she wanted to let out.

Her pace was slow, but steady. It was indeed difficult hauling a man of his build, but for the most part he wasn't really as heavy as she expected him to be. She guessed it was probably due to the shape he was in, which despise his injuries, was great, though his fair sized muscles had made her overestimate his weight.

They were almost to the village, and much to Esther's happiness she could now see the silhouettes of the small houses that composed it.

"Just a little further!" She told him, though she doubted that he could hear her.

As she came closer and closer upon the village, the man began coughing again. Esther tightened her grip around his arm, and pulled the other one up around her shoulder a little more to secure his position better. She used her partially free hand to gently cup it to the side of his face, which was positioned in the crook of her neck, in a calming way.

"You're okay," She cooed. "We're almost there."

He took in a pained breath, and pushed another out. "...Sorry..."

Esther cast a side ward glance at him. "Shh...just keep breathing. Don't waste your energy."

They were only fifty yards away from the village when she could feel him slipping off of her. Luckily she was able to catch him, and lay his body softly on the long grass.

"I'll be right back with some help. Stay with me, okay?" She brushed the straying black bangs out of his eyes and put a small kiss on his forehead. And with that, she ran right into the middle of the village and began calling desperately for help.

"What's going on?" One of her neighbors asked as they came out with numerous others to see what all the fuss was about.

"Please!" Esther begged. "I found a man washed up by the river! He's hurt really badly!" She ran over to him to show them where he was.

"Esther?" She heard the voice of Ophelia coming from behind the group of people gathering around the man. After they had begun carrying him over to a place where they would heal him, did she see the small form of her foster mother.

Immediately the guilt she was feeling earlier came crashing down on her. "Oh...Ophelia..."

"My goodness! You're covered in blood! What happened?" Ophelia asked worriedly as she ran up to Esther.

"It's not my blood," Esther explained. "I carried that injured man all the way from the river."

"Thank goodness," Ophelia sighed, caressing the younger girl's face gently. "I'm so glad you're okay. About earlier, I'm sorry for getting upset..."

"No, Ophelia, it is I who should be apologizing. I have my own extended opinion on this, but...I shouldn't have said such a horrible thing to you. You've been there for me ever since my parents died, and you've done a great job of being a second mother to me."

Ophelia nodded, giving Esther a small smile. "Come here," She said, pulling her into a hug, then brushing a few strands out of Esther's face. "You're such a pretty and mature girl, I'm glad to have you in my family."

"Do you forgive me?" Esther asked quietly.

"Of course." Ophelia then looked towards the small hut where the villagers had taken the wounded man. "Let's not worry about these things for now, I'm sure that the healers could use your help."

Esther nodded, and made her way past the gathering crowd and into the small hut. She figured that the argument of what she should be doing with her life would come up between the two again, but for now she let it be. She was just happy to have Ophelia's forgiveness and enjoy a proper mother and daughter moment with her; moments that had come less often ever since Esther had turned the age that most girls got married at in her village.

* * *

Author's note-

To explain the part where she kissed him on the forehead, it's an old belief kind of like kissing boo-boos away, but in this context, it's called "The kiss from a virtuous maiden can give a dying man a reason to live".

To answer any upcoming bee-otching, I know that technically in Maxi's profile it says that it was an old man that rescued him, but for this story's sake I changed that little detail...and maybe because after I had finished writing my guts out on this chapter, I may have forgotten that part until I went over my research...*awkward laugh*...but oh well, ya'll can get over it right? Please don't kill me...I have hopes and dreams~!

Please review n' stuff, it's highly appreciated. Thanks! :)


	2. New Acquaintances

****Author's note-

Hello everyone! Just so ya'll know, I will be putting up pictures of Esther so you can see what she looks like. Also, I have learned how to draw Maxi, and I shall be putting up a cover picture soon, plus other fan art up on Deviant art. To those that would like to see them, and other art if you care haha, my profile is SPAZTASTYCK. I haven't put up any Soul Calibur art up yet, but I will inform ya'll when I have! :)

* * *

**Chapter 2—New Acquaintances**

* * *

One hour of cleaning and bandaging, and all was quiet in that small hut. The rest of the village however, was a different story. Women gathered in small groups and gossiped to one another about the strange man that had been brought to their village. Children kept popping in and out of the flap entrance to the hut to see the stranger, which Esther had to keep sending away.

Most of the men, though some of them were curious, were distrustful and believed that the man was a bad omen. Though, Esther also believed it was because they were jealous of the way that some of their wives and daughters seemed to be fascinated with him.

Esther had been put in charge of 'babysitting' the man since he had been treated. She didn't mind, and in fact she would have volunteered even if she hadn't been picked for the job. After all, she was the one that rescued him and brought him here, it was only fair that she should be the one to look after his well being.

Now that they had cleaned up his body, bandaged up every cut to be seen on him, he looked much better. Esther could get a better look at him, now that he wasn't covered in blood. He had nice black hair that was short-cut, and his bangs fell neatly on the right side of his face.

Laying on the narrow cot, she noticed that his body seemed more at peace, and she watched the steady rise and fall of his nicely toned chest.

He appeared to be a couple years older than her, so he was probably in his early twenties, and he was definitely not from around here. No wonder the women in her village kept talking about him; he was indeed much better looking than most of the men Esther had ever seen.

She too had changed out of her bloodied clothes and washed up. Sitting at the small table, wearing a pale blue shirt and a pair of white cotton pants, she examined the pair of nunchaku that had later been collected from the spot the man had been found. Seras had explained what the strange weapon was, saying that she once learned how to use them when she was a teenager. Esther wondered how one would fight with such a thing, but then cast the thought aside. Perhaps one day she would be able to see them used.

The girl happened to look over when he seemed to be opening his eyes. She watched as his eyelids slowly opened to reveal dark brown irises, still half open from grogginess. He closed his eyes again as he breathed in sharply, then opened them again, this time a little wider.  
At first, he attempted to sit up, but Esther's gentle hand on his collarbone stopped him.

"Don't try to sit up. You've got several broken ribs." She said quietly.

He eyed her curiously for a minute before complying and laying back down. His eyes flitted about as to look at his surroundings. "Where am I?"

He asked. His voice was deep, but smooth.

"This is Grünortschaft. I found you by the river and brought you here." Esther answered.

"How did I...what country is this?"

"Germany...well kind of. This village is so remote that I don't believe we're considered part of the kingdom." She pulled up her chair next to where he was laying. "So, what is your name?"

He closed his eyes. "Maxi. And you?"

"I am Esther. It's nice to meet you."

"You too."

"So, Maxi," She crossed her legs. "Where is it that you come from? You don't look like you're around here."

He smiled, seemingly amused by her question. "Very far away from here. Have you ever heard of the Ryukyu Kingdom?"

"You're from all the way in Asia? Damn." Esther frowned. "You don't look very Asian...then again I can kind of see it. Then how did you end up here?"

"It's a long and complicated story. May I ask you a question?"

Esther kind of wanted her question answered first, after all she wasn't going anywhere. She let it slide though, seeing as he probably didn't even have the energy to tell such a story anyways. "Sure. What would you like to know?"

"You say that this is Germany, yet your accent sounds different, like..."

"Russian?" She interrupted. "Yes, I'm not native to this village. I was born and raised in Russia originally. When I was nine, I was orphaned and moved here with the family that adopted me."

"I see," He nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that you were orphaned at such a young age."

Esther shrugged. "It's fine. I don't mind talking about it."

"So if you have a family, then where are they? It seems awfully quiet here." He mused.

"They should be out working in the gardens at this time, but knowing them, they are probably gossiping with the other women about your arrival."

Maxi laughed. "Is that so?"

"Yep. You've managed to make quite a stir in this village." She teased.

"Funny, I'm not sure what I've done to receive such attention."

Esther smiled, shaking her head. "Oh it's nothing like that, it's just that we never get strangers around here. This village is so remote that the only people here are those who have been born and raised here. I'm the only exception."

"So...you don't have to answer this if you don't want to," He inquired. "but...what happened to your eye?"

She smiled. "Do not worry, I am an open book. Feel free to ask anything." It was a question she was used to. On her right eye, a scar fell crossed just a bit past her brow and down to the top of her cheek, slashing it's way over her eyelid. The eye had become a faded silvery color, when it had once been blue like her left eye. "When I was nine, I witnessed the murder of my parents. The one who killed them did this to me.

For a while, I was completely blind in this eye, but that only lasted until a kind man, a friend of my father's, adopted me and I was taken here."

"So are you able to see out of it now?"

"Yes, maybe even a little better too."

Maxi looked confused. "How?"

"The healers here are amazing, that's all I know."

"Interesting. I suppose that's what explains the difference in your eye color. You said that you saw the one who killed your parents. That's terrible, but I must ask, was he ever put to justice?"

Esther looked down. Though this question was asked frequently too, she still had a difficult time answering it. "Um...no. I don't think anyone could have stopped it."

"It?"

"It was a monster. He...he was huge, there was no way that thing was human. It carried an ax and killed my parents." She stammered.

"An ax?!" Maxi tensed up and looked right at her, a look in his eyes that seemed to be familiar with what she was telling him.

"What? Do you know of it?"

He fixed her with a serious stare. "That monster...it's name is Astaroth. He...he killed my crew...my brother...he's how I ended up here."

* * *

Author's note-

Thank you for reading! I hope that it's okay so far. I am almost done typing and editing up the third chapter, so that should be up soon.

Anyways, the town that they are in I completely made up. It is a German name however, it literally means Green Village. Since it never really mentions exactly where in Germany Maxi ended up, and I figured it would be a little known village that would probably not be remembered in history. So, with that knowledge, I hope that sheds some light on the setting of this chapter (and perhaps a couple more chapters to come).

Please review, and again, thank you! :)


	3. The Pirate From Far Away

Author's note-

Wow! This is the fastest I have ever updated a chapter! Yay!

Sorry. If you lived my life you would be happy too. Anyways, just to let ya'll know, I finally got my Maxi and Esther art updated on Deviantart! Check them out, my username is SPAZTASTYCK.

This chapter may be a little centered on the OC's village and her history and stuff, but don't worry. It will all come in to play out nicely in future chapters, so things will make sense and Maxi's awesomeness can be greater admired.

* * *

**The Pirate From Far Away**

* * *

"It killed your crew?" Esther asked, astonished.

Perhaps coming upon this man had been fate. If he too had encountered this monster, then it had to be. But then, what did he mean by his

crew?

That's right, she thought. He still hadn't explained how he ended up here, besides the fact that this "Astaroth" monster was the cause. More specifically, she was curious to know who he was. He talked about a crew so was he a naval officer of the Ryukyu Kingdom or something? The clothes that he had been found in didn't appear to be a uniform of any kind.

Then another more dreaded thought dawned on her. Had she just brought a pirate to her village?

"I'm sorry to hear that." She wouldn't make assumptions just yet. She pried him gently in order to gather more information. "So...if you had a crew, then are you a...?"

"A pirate?" He finished the sentence for her.

Laughing awkwardly, she admitted. "Heh...yeah..."

"Yes," he answered. _Well, at least he's being honest_. "But you don't need to be concerned. Those days are long gone, and I'm not the typical eye-patched, hook for a hand, murdering scoundrel you're probably thinking of. In fact, my crew and I could hardly be classified as pirates. I like to think of us being mere adventurers."

"So you were the captain then."

Maxi nodded. "Yes, when my father passed away, I was given command of the vessel."

"I see." Esther commented. She put the nunchaku back on the table. "So, I'm guessing that the monster boarded your ship, bad things happened, and then you washed up here by the river?"

"No, how I got here is a whole different story and still partially remains a mystery to me."

"I won't press you for it then. I'm sure I've exhausted your talking energy enough already."

"No worries, I don't mind." He reassured her, seemingly amused by her apologetic nature. "May I ask one last question?"

"Absolutely."

"Did you happen to see my nunchaku?" He asked, he then sighed after realizing his question. "You probably don't even know what that is-"

"Right here." She held them in front of him so he could see the black weapons connected by a chain.

He gently took them from her offering hands. "Soryuju...what a relief." He sighed.

"I trust that they mean a great deal to you." Esther observed.

"Indeed. Thank you for finding them." He placed them on his chest and let his arms rest at his sides.

Esther stood up and looked towards the entrance of the hut where some sort of commotion going on outside. She peeked her head out to see a small but quickly growing group accumulating a couple yards away from the hut.

"Oh dear..." she frowned, turning around.

Maxi peered up at her. "What is it?"

"We have...visitors."

The voice of Esther's foster sister could be heard from behind the bearskin drape that served as the cover for the entry way. "Esther? May I come in?"

"You may." Esther pushed the flap open and hurried Leah inside.

The younger girl gasped a a little when she noticed Maxi was awake. "Oh wow! He's awake!"

"Yes-"

"He's actually pretty handsome when he's not covered in blood...and...without a shirt..."

"Leah, I'm aware that you're a fourteen year old girl with fantasies, but now is now is not the time to examine this person," She emphasized, slightly irritated. "like he's a farm animal up for auction. Now what is it you need?" She could hear Maxi chuckling a little at her sister's remarks.

Her ears heated up and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Right, sorry." Leah blushed. "I'm not sure if you noticed, but you've got quite the crowd gathering outside."

"Yes, I saw. What do you think I should do?" She looked out of the drape to see that the crowd had increased quite a bit since the last time she saw it.

Leah shrugged. "Just pop out and tell them that all is fine, the strange man is recovering and to go the hell away."

"I'm not saying that last part." Esther said. "Stay with him until I come back in."

"I won't object," Leah smiled playfully, winking a bit creepily at Maxi. The poor man frowned a little, and Esther doubted he was still amused by his sister's often times inappropriate flirtatiousness.

She changed her mind. "On second thought," she grabbed the girl around the forearm and pulled her outside with her. "Let's let him have a break from us."

"Hey!"

Esther ignored the protests. "Oh quit your whining, he's too old for you, and you're scaring him anyways."

Standing in front of the gathering of people, she felt a bit on the spot. Esther didn't like talking front of large groups, it always made her nervous. All the eyes were on her now, and her knees shook a little. They all stared at her at her, as if she were the village chairman or something. _Get over it_. She told herself. Just do what Leah said. Ah yes, that's it. If her fourteen year old sister can say it, then certainly she could.

Leah got around to talking first though, which was probably a good thing. "Good news everyone! He's recovering and it looks like everything is going well! But he still needs some peace and quiet so please mind your own-"

"Yes he still needs to rest so please go back to your normal duties." Esther slapped a hand over her sister's mouth to prevent the vulgarities she could already see coming. Leah really needed to work on her language and manners. Perhaps that was the reason why Ophelia fretted so much over Esther and how she 'needed to be the proper woman'. What an eye-roll. Perhaps if she paid more attention to Leah, the girl wouldn't be nearly as socially rejected as she is.

In the midst of Esther's wandering thoughts, the village people began to shuffle away, some frowning and mumbling amongst themselves.

_That was actually really easy.._.She thought, shaking her head at her own shyness. Well, it was easy until three of the village girls, Sheska, Natasha and Lillian approached her.

_Oh what now?!_ These three nuisances often drove Esther up a tree, though she was silent about it. Sheska had pixie-cut brown hair with eyes to match, and was the leader of the small clique. All her life she had been spoiled rotten by her father, who was the village chairman. She was fifteen, of average height, and thought the world was hers, thus Esther really didn't like her. Lillian was Sheska's younger sister, and the two looked almost exactly alike, the only difference being that Lillian was slightly chubbier. Natasha was a quiet, shy girl who only tagged along with Sheska and Lillian because they dragged her along and she was too submissive to say no. Honestly, Esther didn't mind Natasha too much, and actually liked her when she wasn't being hauled around by her two obnoxious friends. Out of all three of them, Natasha was definitely the prettiest, as she had raven black hair which fell all the way to her rear, jade green eyes and a defined ovular face.

"Can we see him?" Sheska asked.

"Nope."

"Why not?"

Leah replied, "Are you deaf? We just said he needs to be left alone to rest for a while."

"Leah," Esther looked at her sister in the eye, shaking her head.

"What? Someone's got to tell these uppity snobs off." Leah crossed her arms.

"I'm sure Ophelia could use your help in the gardens, why don't you go find her?"

The girl huffed, but then obeyed.

Esther watched out the corner of her eye as Leah left in the direction of their home. She then turned her attention to the demands of the two sisters. "Yes?"

"Look," Lillian growled. "Our father just happens to be the leader of this village, or have you forgotten that?"

"Is that a threat?"

Lillian laughed, and it almost sounded evil. "Of course not, I'm just saying that we could go get him."

"So it is a threat." Esther kept her stance. "Go on then, fetch your daddy so you can get your way. Until then, I'm not letting you in."

The girl looked shocked, while Sheska kept her eyes narrowed. It must be hard, having someone tell you no for a change. "We'll be back."

Sheska said, turning to leave with her sister. Esther knew that they would definitely go through with tattling on her, but at least she wouldn't have to worry about it for a while. Village Chairman Heinrich, Sheska and Lillian's father, was away in Krakau to calm a trading disagreement that happened just a while ago. He wouldn't be back until next week.

Much to Esther's surprise, Natasha still remained, keeping her eyes to the ground. She carried a small bundle in her arms.

"Hello Natasha. How may I help you?"

The shy girl replied quietly. "I washed and stitched the man's clothes...I just was coming to give them to you."

Esther smiled. "Thank you very much!" She said, her mood changing as Natasha handed her the small bundle. In the distance across from where they were standing, they could hear Sheska calling impatiently at Natasha.

"I better be going," the girl blushed.

Esther frowned, feeling bad for her. "Why do you hang around those two anyways? It seems like all they do is push you around."

Natasha only dipped her head in farewell, and bumbled hurriedly towards the others. Esther shook her head and headed back in the house. Oh well, if that was the girl's choice, then there was nothing she could do about it. In a way, Esther found herself relating to the fifteen year old, only Ophelia was only doing what she saw as decent parenting.

Esther certainly didn't want any new fights to pop up between the two, but she could already see them happening soon. She sure as hell wasn't going to give up her fighting lessons with Seras, but she didn't want to make Ophelia upset anymore. Ophelia believed that a woman is meant for the home, to tend to the house-hold and the chores. Esther differed, seeing no reason that she should obey traditional social rules, and really didn't see herself stuck in a house, pregnant and chasing after pesky children while her husband was off having all the fun.

Not only that, but Esther was upset at how her foster mother couldn't detect other underlying reasons behind her desire to be a fighter. The monster that killed her parents and took her eye still haunted her dreams and her memories; she wanted to be able to defend herself if such a situation were to happen again. A deeper, darker part in her heart desired for revenge, but the logical part of her thinking judged that it would be best to not go looking for danger.

* * *

Author's note-

I'm currently working on the fourth chapter. I tend to write out an entire chapter and get working on the next before publishing, because I like to make sure that my plot is flowing well and the chapters coordinate, so that's why I am a slower updater. Buuuuut it should be up in a couple days!

Please check out my artwork, you'll get to see what Esther looks like, see her profile, and see a couple of my fan sketches of the sexy Maxi!

Also, please check out my friend DarkWizard's stories, she's an amazing writer and has some awesome stories up! She motivated me to get this story on Fanfiction, as it has been sitting on my computer for about a year and I was too lazy to get it published. So yeah, please check all those goodies out! :D


	4. Living Among Grunortschaft

Author's Note-

Welcome to chapter 4! I'm so glad that you've made it this far in my story. In this chapter, we'll get to look into a little more of Maxi's history, and a little more of Esther's too. Anyways, enjoy! :)

* * *

**Living Amongst Grünortschaft**

* * *

Many weeks passed by, and the pirate from the Ryukyu Kingdom had become better known and trusted by the people of the village. His wounds healed, but slowly and inefficiently. He was eventually able to move out of the healer's small home, but due to little vacancy in the village, he ended up in Esther's neighbor's house, much to Leah's happiness.

Sheska's and Lillian's father had come back from Krakau, but much to their dismay he simply waved away their wish to have Esther punished. Natasha remained to be the timid girl she was, but came to be more open when talking with Esther and perhaps becoming a friend to her.

Maxi's story had been cleared up to, thanks to some friendly conversing between him, Esther and some of the people gathered in one of the taverns. She would often stay back in the corner, listening in on his stories. The girl had to admit, the man could tell some interesting tales, and it was obvious that he had done a lot in his life. It was indeed hard not to enjoy his presence.

"So when did you learn to fight?" A man with a long braided beard asked one night, a beer in one hand and resting the other on his knee.

"When I was very young, I was probably at least five years old when I started."

"Why would a five year old learn how to fight? That's insane!" Another man asked skeptically.

Maxi laughed. "Not quite. You see, I was raised on a ship that went everywhere. My father had me learn how to use the nunchaku as a way of self defense. When you're traveling from harbor to harbor, you'll run into a lot of different personalities, some which aren't quite as kind as you people."

The roomful of people chuckled, and Esther couldn't help but smile a bit herself. "So do you have a family at all?"

He thought about the question for a moment. "Well, my father passed away a long time ago, and I used to have a brother named Kyam."

"What happened to him?"  
"When the monster attacked my ship, he was killed in the process, along with my entire crew."

The room was silent for a moment. Esther nodded solemnly, relating.

"This monster you speak of, is he the one that Esther talks about?"

Maxi shrugged. "It's most likely. Both our stories describe a giant man with an ax, so it's very possible. Though, he's gone now."

"Oh? I haven't heard this part of the story yet." Esther inquired from the corner, folding her arms.

"Yes, when Kilik, Xhiangua and I managed to reach the castle, Astaroth attacked us. I had them run ahead, because we didn't have the time to spare in order to get rid of that thing...I'll also admit that I had a sincere wish for revenge at that point. I wasn't about to let him take the lives of any more of my friends."

"And?"

"He about kicked my ass, as you can see," He joked, referring to his scars and still mending wounds. "but I'll admit I gave him a beating too. I suppose I lived because he fell first...well until that god, Ares, somehow made the Earth swallow me up and spit me out here. I think I pissed him off."

The others nodded, humored sounds coming from them while Esther stared. "Wait...so...he's dead?"

"Last time I checked, yes." The people around the tavern laughed at his response.

Esther sat against the wall limply, almost in disbelief. So, the monster that had terrified her in her dreams and given her nightmares was gone? This whole time she had been fearing nothing! "Wow..."

"Is something wrong?"

"No," She shook her head. She then looked up and smiled. "In fact...I'm relieved."

"Funny...I almost expected you to be disappointed."

"Why is that?"

He thought about it for a minute. "Well, for me anyways, I would have wanted to be the one to claim revenge."

"Which you did, and in doing so you have also claimed revenge for me." She answered.

He smiled and looked down. "I suppose that is what makes you more respectable than me."

Esther shrugged, taking a sip from the glass of water she was holding. That wasn't exactly true. First of all, she hadn't really known him long enough to agree with him, and second, she too had her own dark desire for revenge. Or at least she did anyways. She'd always hoped that as soon as she had the means to leave on her own, she would go on a search for the monster in order to keep him from killing any more innocent people, and avenge her parents. However, she'd always been afraid of facing that thing again, so knowing that this man had ended its wretched existence brought comfort to her.

The night in the tavern went on until Esther decided it was time to return home. She bid farewell to those remaining in the place and made her exit. She would be getting up to practice some new sword maneuvers. Unfortunately Seras would be leaving tonight to visit her father who lived in the mountains, so Esther was to do some self-training while she was gone. Her skills were high enough that she could face Seras abilities in a match, but there was still room for perfection. Her defense was good, and her teacher pointed out how that was a strength in Esther, but her offense could still use some improvement.

She almost couldn't wait too; it had been too long since she had last picked up her swords. Her time had mainly been taken up with preparing the gardens for the upcoming winter and storing food. Not only that, but she also had been helping to care for Maxi and helping her sister with her studies, so she had little time for extra activities that required a great deal of dedication.

Her home was quite a ways away, and unfortunately Esther hadn't thought to bring a lamp. Oh well, if she got home fast enough, she would be fine.

However, she didn't count on this.

Two shapes, taller and broader than her appeared out of an alleyway diagonally to her right. At first they startled her a little, but she continued walking as to mind her own business.

"Hey darling," One of them said to her from behind. Esther ignored him and kept her pace. It was best not to acknowledge strange men at night, especially in this narrow and empty street.

The other caught her around the arm. "You know, it's not polite for a woman to ignore a man who talks to her."

"And it's not polite for a man to grab a girl around the arm so roughly," She retorted, yanking her arm out from his grip and backing away.

"Now, now, sweetheart," his voice was tainted with menace. "we just wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" She asked irritably, though she really didn't care and already figured what was going through their heads.

"We just wanted to know if you were up for a little fun tonight, that's all." The other one answered, he and his friend letting off sinister chuckles. Now that she could see them through a ray of moonlight peaking past the rooftops, they were by no doubt highwaymen. The first one was slightly taller than his friend, had medium length brown hair tied back in a ponytail, while the other had a shaven head and stubble around his face. Esther despised the good-for-nothing troublemakers, running from the bounties that had been placed on them in the larger towns and now bringing their crimes so close to Grünortschaft. There hadn't been many crimes committed around this area, in fact not any had really happened since Esther had been living there, so that explained why she didn't really worry too much about traveling alone.

"Thanks for the invitation," she replied icily, "but I'm really not interested. Now if you'll excuse me-"

They quickened their pace as she backed away from them. "Oh but dear, you don't get to say no. You see, you're coming with us whether you want to or not." Said the taller one.

"Then what would be the point of inviting me in the first place?" She checked behind her shoulder to look for a quick way to escape, nervously seeing that they were coming to close to cornering her.

He laughed. "A good point you make. Nevertheless, if you come along nicely, I can assure you won't get hurt." His friend cackled and pulled out a sharp knife.

Esther narrowed her eyes. "If you're smart, you'll put the knife away and crawl back to whatever stinking hole you came from. I can't guarantee your well-being if you come any closer to me."

* * *

Author's Note-

Oh noes! What is going to happen?! You'll have to read Chapter 5 to find out! :O

I'm so happy right now! I just got a new version of SC II for the original X-box. You see, I inherited my brother's game which was scratched up like a mofo and wouldn't work (big surprise...not), so I ordered a new one off of Amazon. And it works so wonderfully!

Anyways, I'm so happy! I hope ya'll have a happy day too, seeing as I am updating this on Halloween! I dressed up as a geisha/ninja/princess of Japanese epicness. What did you dress up as? Tell me in your review! :D


	5. Dancing Without Swords

Author's Note-

Oh. My. God.

Have I managed to only make you guys wait ONE day between updates?! Someone hold the crazy train! Haha ^_^ actually chapter 4 and this one used to be one giant long chapter, but I split it up to even it out. Most of my chapters are about 5 pages long, so I can keep track of my chapter locations so I know where to scroll too when I'm copying and pasting. But I'm sure that I'm just rambling right about now and ya'll don't care about that. *watches as everyone nods*

Anyways, I also wanted to point out that if ya'll spot any parts where a sentence cuts off and indents in a weird spot, or something (like when someone is thinking something) that needs to be _italicized _then please tell me. I have it all formatted in Open Office, but then when I copy and paste it in to here I have to back and fix everything, and sometimes I miss stuff. So please point out any mistakes that you find. Thanks!

* * *

**Dancing Without Swords**

* * *

"I like them when their feisty," the man with the shaved head stared at her like an animal about to kill its prey. She continued to back up until she felt her shoulders against the brick wall of the building fencing off the alleyway.

"Hey!" Someone yelled from behind suddenly. The voice caught the two assailants' attention, and they whipped around.

"And what do you want?" The tall one growled. "Can't you see our lady friend and us are busy?"

Esther squinted in the dark to see the moonlight shimmer across the person's black hair. Had Maxi followed her or something? "Your lady friend? Funny, last time I checked men don't point knives at their girlfriends. Besides, the two of you are old enough to be her father."

"If you know what's good for you, you'll mind your own business." The same man tensed, and his friend walked beside him as their aggressiveness shifted to Maxi.

"You should follow your own words. I see what's going on here." He stood up straight and his eyes were serious, but with one arm leaning on the wall one could tell he was not in fighting shape. "Two highwaymen looking to cause trouble."

"You're that Asian pirate aren't you? You have no right to criticize us." The shorter one replied.

Maxi cocked his head to the side. "On the contrary, I don't corner and point young women in the middle of the night. Only cowards such as your worthless selves do that."

"I'm through with talking with this self-noble moron." The tall one drew his own knife, and his friend copied his movements to advance on the man standing in Esther's defense.

Maxi looked at Esther and gestured for her to run.

She shook her head and instead yelled at the two men. "Leave him alone!" There was no way she could leave him to whatever sick things the highwaymen would do to him. Perhaps if he weren't as injured as he was, he could handle himself, but in his condition, he could black out if he stressed his body too much.

They merely ignored her pleas and continued to walk towards him. He stood there, unafraid of what he probably knew was going to happen. The taller man used one hand to push Maxi towards the wall, and teasingly dragged the edge of the blade along his upper collarbone.

Esther couldn't take it anymore. She was going to show these barbarians what happened when you assaulted an innocent person.

Before any more harm could be done, the one with the shaven head suddenly had a shaven and bruised head. Much to the taller one's surprise, his friend suddenly fell limply to the ground. Stepping away from Esther's following palm strike, he barely dodged it.

His streak of avoiding her attacks didn't last long. He attempted to punch her face, which she caught and pulled behind his back in a technique used to break wrists. After the painful sounding snap, he shouted, "You harlot!" and attempted to strike her with his other hand. As if it were in slow motion, his reckless, undisciplined swings were put to an end. Falling with cat-like grace, she dropped to her hands as she pushed her feet out in a swift kick.

The goon fell flat on his rear and smacked his head against the wall. Staring up at her, his eyes wide with fear, a stream of blood poured from his nose. She looked down on him, a disgusted grimace on her face, like the piece of trash he was. Her foot was planted firmly on his shoulder.

"Please...don't kill me..." He begged.

She narrowed her eyes. "Why not? I see no reason to let you live. The moment I release you you'll be out causing trouble on the streets again."

"I won't...I won't..."

"I doubt it." She took her foot off of him. "However, if I ever smell your filthy self around this village again, I'll kill you."

He shakily rose to his feet, half-running and half-limping away. Esther was almost amused at how he left his friend behind. What a primitive being. He obviously didn't give one grain of dirt about his accomplice, which lay unconscious on the ground.

After watching the idiot leave, Maxi spoke up. "Are you sure you want to let him go?"

Esther dusted herself off and nodded casually. "In his shape, he'll never make it past the guards outside the wall. People like him are easily recognized by the guards and quickly arrested. Bandits with reputation, which I assume he has, are warned about to security forces all over the kingdom."

"I see." He stood up. "What you did there, that was amazing. I didn't know you could fight."

She shrugged. "If I had my swords, I could have done better."

"It looks like you did just fine without."

Laughing, she replied. "Hah, thanks. Did he hurt you at all?"

"No, I'm fine." He walked with her. "Where did you learn to fight?"

"Well, it's a long story..."

"You say that a lot. Don't you realize that it's a long way back to your village? I've got plenty of time. Besides, if I didn't want to hear the answer I wouldn't ask."

"Right," She blushed. "Sorry."

He dipped his head for her to go on.

"Well, after my parents passing, and I had been brought here by my foster father, I would never go to sleep for fear of seeing it again. Every time I closed my eyes, he was there, with his bloody ax and staring at me. My foster father, Diedrich, saw my fears and decided to train me in the art of double fencing so that if anyone were to attack me again, I would be comforted knowing that I could defend myself."

"I take it you blamed yourself for your parents' deaths."

Esther closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes..."

"I understand. Even now I feel guilty for the loss of my crew." He noticed that the memory seemed to pain her somewhat. "Sorry I-"

"No, no," She waved it away. "It's fine. Anyways, after he died from an illness, I started training under Seras."

"Isn't she that red-haired woman that everyone seems to dislike?"

She smiled, giggling a bit at the thought of her teacher. Seras was a woman of thirty-two and had never married, that being a personal decision of hers. She, like Esther, would never be found wearing traditional dresses. Since they preferred the comfort of simple clothes much like what the men wore, they often were subject to the skeptic eyes of their society. Seras, however, had a fiery personality that caused most of the attention to flow her way. "Yes, the village doesn't approve of her being single at her age with no children, and choosing the life of a warrior instead."

"Interesting. Was she ever in the military forces?"

"For a while yes, but she worked minimal stations. The men of this kingdom believe that women belong in the home, forced into the kitchen and sewing their ripped uniforms. They never took Seras seriously, despite the fact of what a talented warrior she is. So, frustrated with their scrutiny, she took an early retirement and returned here."

"It's unfortunate that men undermine the abilities of women so often, a good example being that jackass back in that alleyway. I've seen many fine female warriors in my day, a couple being part of my crew and another being Xhiangua." Maxi commented.

"Agreed. It's ridiculous. If only people could look past the gender barrier and see us for individuals instead." She nodded. Another question peaked her mind. Teasingly, she asked. "So...you talked about your adventures with Kilik and Xhiangua...so did you ever have feelings for her?"

Maxi let out a small, slightly embarrassed laugh. "She is indeed beautiful, and a fine warrior, but she already had her heart set on Kilik. Those two belong together, so I was never in a hurry to interfere."

"Aw, I'm sorry." Esther frowned.

He smiled. "It's okay. Besides, after my disappearance from the castle, I think things went better than they would have if she had chosen me."

"Perhaps after you're injuries heal, we could find them again?"

"We?"

Esther looked down shyly. "Well unless if you would prefer I didn't come with you..."

"No! Of course I don't mean that. In fact, I could use the company of someone like you, with your skills and kindness."

"Thanks," She smiled in return.

"But I'm sure that I won't be traveling much after this." He sighed sadly. "I think my days out on the sea are over."

Esther nodded solemnly. She remembered seeing him a couple days ago, as he attempted to pick up Soryuju and practice a couple moves, but only to collapse in pain. It was a sure thing that he would never be able to fight again, or travel for that matter, for she had seen the damage that had been done to his body. Looking at him, she suggested optimistically, "Well then...perhaps you could stay in Grünortschaft? Living here is quiet and you can find peace here."

"Perhaps. I think that may be my only option."

"And maybe I could find your friends for you and bring them back here to visit!"

Maxi chuckled, not amused, but in a gracious manner. "That's very kind of you to offer, but the world is a massive place, the journey would be nearly impossible."

"Oh come on," She laughed, "I need a reason to leave this place. I fear that Ophelia might take my swords away and arrange a marriage for me if I don't leave soon."

"Does she not approve of the path you've chosen?"

"Nope. She believes that a woman is meant to be but a graceful lady, living in the home and peacefully married to a good husband." Esther said her last sentence, mimicking the lecture Ophelia had given her many times.

Maxi laughed. "You can copy her voice pretty well!"

"Hah, glad you think so." Esther giggled.

"I always can sense a sort of tension between you two. I guess that's why."

She shrugged. "Maybe. Ophelia is actually one of the kindest people I've ever known, and I do consider her to be my mother. She's just so...traditional. She thinks that she's doing what's best for me, but I know that I'm not meant for the typical life of a woman of this village. She disapproved of my foster father teaching me how to fight from the beginning, because she thought I shouldn't be learning how to put myself in danger. When my foster father died, she decided I would leave sword fighting behind and start focusing on more important things."

"I see." He nodded. "All I can say is, keep following your desires. It's your life, so you make the decisions that affect it. Also, the world is something that I think everyone should be able to see, so don't ever pass on an opportunity to go beyond your home."

"Thank you. It's nice to have someone who agrees so much with me. Fighting with stubborn folk gets old." Esther said, dipping her head appreciatively at him.

"Not to be rude, but how old are you anyways? You appear quite young yet you seem so mature."

"No worries, I am not the typical woman who will slap you for asking my age. I am almost eighteen. I turn next month actually." She answered. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-four."

"Then Leah is _way_ too young for you," She joked. He burst into laughter, which caused her to laugh too.

"Yes...your sister is very...interesting."

Esther huffed. "Interesting isn't even the surface. I love the kid to death, but she has some social things she needs to work out."

"I can kind of see that," He smiled, amused.

They walked on for a couple more roads in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence, but neither of them had anything to say. The torches that dotted the outer parts of Grünortshaft came into view, and soon the two were standing at the edge of Esther's property, where the place where Maxi was staying was located.

After bidding goodbye to each other, Esther stepped back into her home, setting her coat down on a chair and heading off into her room.

Ophelia was asleep, but Leah was apparently still awake. Esther didn't really know until the fourteen year old came into her room.

"Hey Leah," Esther yawned as she layed down on her bed. Leah settled herself on the edge of the mattress, looking at the older girl curiously.  
"So where were you?" Leah asked.

"I went downtown to the tavern, why?"

"Uh oh, did you go there with that hottie?"

Esther rolled her eyes. "Oh god Leah. And no, I didn't."

"Then why did I see you two walk home together?"

"What...?" Esther sat up. "Do you like stalk him or something?"

"No," Leah giggled. "But his glorious form does catch my attention. No, I was just waiting for you to come home and I saw you two out the window."  
"So...?"

"You know what happens when a man and a woman get drunk at a-"

"OH MY GOD. NO." Esther yelped. "Holy...Leah that is not what happened. First of all, I don't drink, I was only relaxing for a bit after picking up some supplies from the market. Second, he just walked home with me because there were some creeps in the alleyway that tried to pick a fight with me."

"Did you kick their asses?"

"Sure did," Esther winked.

"I think I know who you're talking about. Seras brought in this guy with a ponytail and the guards threw him in the jail."

_Huh...well that worked out nicely._ Esther thought.

Suddenly Leah looked behind Esther. "What the..."

Esther turned to see what Leah was looking at. "What?"

"Hmm," Leah said, standing up and walking over to the window. She then shrugged and turned around. "I thought I saw something out there."

"An animal maybe?"

"I think so." Leah then walked over to the doorway and prepared to leave. "It is bear season I think."

Esther shuddered. "I hope not."

"_Well_..." Leah swung herself around. "On that happy note, I'm going to bed. Goodnight Esther."

"Goodnight weirdo," Esther mused. She then blew out the candle in her room, flopped on her bed and went to sleep.

* * *

Author's Note-

I love Leah, she's probably my favorite character in this story so far, other than Maxi of course! I am currently writing chapter 6, and that should be up by this weekend. Also, I'm just now uploading my cover illustration for this story. You can find all of my other illustrations of Maxi and Esther (meh, you'll just check it out to see Maxi lol...I mean, because that's what I would do, who cares about OC's anyway? xD) on my DeviantArt page.


	6. Arrangements

Author's Note-

HO-LEE HANNAH MONTANA.

I might just start twerking. Just kidding, I wouldn't do that. It would be very disturbing actually...

But did I just manage to update a whole chapter in only a couple figging hours?! I sure did! Que the rainbows!

Anyways, I am proud to present my fastest update of all time to you. Special thanks to DarkWizard, my equally Maxi obsessed friend and faithful reader and reviewer! *heart*

* * *

**Arrangements**

* * *

A year passed by, and with that Esther had turned eighteen. She was old enough to live on her own, and with that, Ophelia was pressing the idea of marriage even more. Unfortunately, in Grünortschaft, a person could not obtain a place of their own until they became married. Damn laws.

One day, Esther, Leah and Ophelia were eating breakfast together, and in that a most unwanted conversation took place.

"Esther," Ophelia began. "I know you don't want to talk about this, but please understand its importance."

_Ugh...here we go._ Esther thought most unhappily. "Yes?"

"You're already eighteen, and by now most girls have been...well, married."

"I know. And...?"

Ophelia took a sip of water. "You see, you're beautiful and smart, and well, the townspeople are going to think something is wrong with you if you don't find yourself a match soon."

"Who cares what they think? Besides, they already think I'm odd. In fact, with this scar on my eye, a great deal of them believe I'm cursed." She pointed out.

"Esther, I can't let their judgment worsen. Which is why I have began looking into marital arrangements."

Esther felt like throwing up. "Oh god..."

Ophelia continued, ignoring Esther's already developing protests. "And since I know that you don't like the idea already, I've made sure to pick out someone who would fit your personality, is good-looking, and honestly I believe you would be happy with."

"Who?" She almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"Aiden Kahn, you know, Father Kahn's nephew?"

Leah burst into laughter. "Uh oh Esther, he might make you go to church!"

She was silenced by a glare from Ophelia. "Oh quiet you. Don't make it any worse."

"Um..." It was already bad as it was, Esther didn't see how it could get any worse. Then again, she had been friends with Aiden, who had been in her class in church. He was a kind, gentle man. He had swept, caramel brown hair, light freckles and a nice body, but Esther wasn't too interested. Ophelia could have picked worse, yes, but Esther simply didn't think it would be a happy marriage for either of them. The problem being mostly on Esther, as she was too rebellious, didn't really attend church meetings and wouldn't settle for the typical life that she figured Aiden would prefer. She then remembered that he was out of town for the month with Father Kahn to visit family or something. "Isn't he away right now? Surely you couldn't have gotten approval yet."

Ophelia shook her head. "Actually, I talked to his parents, and they approved."

"What?!"

"Oh please Esther, let's not argue about this again," Ophelia pleaded.

Esther pretended to relax. She too really didn't want to have the same losing argument again. "No, no...it's fine..."

"Really?"

"Oh come on, fight! Fight! Fight!" Leah cheered.

"Leah, shut up." Esther hissed so only Leah could hear. She finished her meal and stood up from the table. "Of course, Ophelia. Besides, you're doing what's best for me, and I suppose Aiden isn't the worst choice."

"Thank you for understanding," Ophelia breathed a sigh of relief.

_Like hell I understand_. Esther began to leave out the door. "Well, I'm going to be at the church house for a while, I need to do some thinking."

* * *

As a matter of fact, she did need to do some thinking. She'd be thinking about how she would get out of this, run away or perhaps even suicide. She didn't want to get married! Aiden was a good man, but she didn't want to marry him!

She found herself dipping her hands in the holy water at the beginning of the chapel and crossing them from her forehead, across her shoulder's and her heart before collapsing on a bench, breaking into prayer.

_Please god_, she prayed. _Help me out of this. I know I am not meant for marriage, especially not to Aiden. I know I haven't been the most faithful of servants or the most grateful of children, but please help me! I promise to be better, just don't make me get married. I want to see the world you so wonderfully created, I want to defend those who can't defend themselves from monsters, I don't want to get married..._

She felt herself falling apart right there in the chapel, and noticed some other people filing in. Afraid of being embarrassed, she stood up, dipped her head to acknowledge them and left. She wasn't quite ready to go anywhere, so instead she left the small room and went around the back. Finding a spot relatively secluded, she plopped herself against the wall of the church and cried into her knees. She didn't plea to God or complain about her pitiful life, she just cried uncontrollably. Could she not have any control over her life? Is this how things would go down? Was she to be married reluctantly to someone she didn't love, tied to the roots of this village, to bear children and never be able to leave?

Wiping her tears away on her sleeve, she felt someone sit next to her, shoulders touching._ Oh shit_, she thought. Now someone had heard her disgraceful sobbing and found her. How shameful of her to make such noise!

She looked up with her puffy eyes and noticed it was Maxi. He kept his gaze from her, instead looking ahead of him. She looked back down and tried to compose herself.

"Sorry," She said, wiping her tears again. "Oh God this is so embarrassing..."

"Don't worry about it. I'm not judging."

She crossed her arms over her knees. "I don't normally do this, this is rather pathetic of me."

He shook his head. "I know you're tough, but don't knock yourself as being pathetic. Something happened, am I right?"

"Yeah," she admitted, sighing.

"Go on."

"Well," she sighed again. "you know how my foster mother has been trying to get me married and all that business? Well, I just learned that a marriage has been arranged for me."

"Damn," He said. "To who?"

"Aiden Kahn. He's the reverend's nephew, he's just not my type." She answered.

"The goody-two shoe? Oh shit, I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to apologize for. I suppose I should have seen this coming," Esther thought she had her emotions under control, but then her mouth quivered and she was in tears yet again.

He gently pulled her onto his shoulder, sliding his arm around hers as to comfort her. With his thumb, he brushed a straying tear away. "It infuriates me that Ophelia would do such a thing. I mean, I know she's your parent and all, but it's not fair. You should be able to choose your own life."

"Sometimes a parent must choose for their child, because the child doesn't realize what's good for her." Ophelia appeared in front of them.

"Ophelia...I-"

"I knew something was up with you. You left the house in such a hurry that I couldn't help but be suspicious." She then turned on Maxi. "And you...if you had any idea of the trouble that I've gone through in order to get her to agree, you wouldn't say such terrible things!"

"Terrible?" Maxi laughed in disbelief. "All I did was state my opinion. It's only terrible to you because it disagrees with what you've been pushing on Esther."

"Look, I am her parent. I am only trying to do what is best for her, and I certainly don't need the likes of you interfering with that! This is her eternal happiness and well-being we're dealing with!"

"If you truly are her parent, you would want her to be happy, and forcing her to marry someone she doesn't want to will make her the exact opposite. You talk about her as if she's a child. News flash, she's eighteen, and no longer a child. Let her decide for herself!" He argued, standing up.

Ophelia rolled her eyes. "If I do that, she'll end up becoming some hooligan, like her wretched teacher. Besides, the observation from some pirate that washed up like trash into our village are highly irrelevant to me, or to anyone."

The area was silent for a minute, and Esther was surprised that Maxi didn't spontaneously bust into flames.

"I'll let the trash comment slide," Maxi gritted his teeth. "Just...wow...I can't believe what I've heard from you. I'm disgusted."

"That was really uncalled for," Esther said to Ophelia. Never in her life had she seen the woman be so insulting. Then again, Ophelia could become malicious if anyone disagreed with her, especially over how she parented her children.

"Quiet," Ophelia hissed. She then walked over and took Esther by the arm. "We're leaving. I've had enough of this nonsense. I knew you were trouble the moment you were brought to this village."

Esther, with no choice but to oblige, looked at Maxi with an apologetic look, on behalf of Ophelia's behavior. He looked back at her with a frowning, yet thoughtful and reassuring look.

As they walked away, her foster mother said to her. "I don't want you hanging around him anymore. He's bad news."

* * *

Author's Note-

Meow! Hiss! Quite a cat fight going on in this chapter. I'm still amazed at myself for updating twice on the same day...I gotta go channel my excitedness into solving world hunger or something. Damn! Lol.

Expect the next update to be during this weekend! Who knows, I might surprise ya'll with another update of quickness like I did today! I might, I have planned out the next ten chapters, and this story is so fun to write! Plus I've got the flu so I have a lot of free time.

And before the Mary-Sue police assault my house with their pitchforks and torches, at the part where he gave her a hug, just oh my hell...calm your tits, that was meant to be a display of friendship, a friend comforting a friend, no kissey kissey crap that you're preparing to shoot me for. I tried to be as light as I could on that part because I value my life and do not wish to be one of those murder victims you see the crew of Criminal Minds investigating. However, feel free to do that to other Mary-Sue writers, you'll be making the world a better place. Actually, just kidding. Don't kill people, killing is bad!

Anywhodoodles, please leave a review, I appreciate reviews to know that as a writer how I can improve, and also to catch the formatting bloopy poopies that pop up. Also, sometimes it cuts out words or pieces of sentences when I put it on here. I'm not sure what that's all about, but I would like to be informed!

Thanks! :)


	7. Headaches

Author's Note-

Welcome to Chapter 7! I managed to get this one posted just a day in between yesterday's two updates. I am on a roll guys! Actually, I'm sick with the flu so I really don't have anything better to do right now. Hee hee ^_^

Anyways, special thanks to DarkWizard for your awesome and constructive reviews! You are very helpful! :) *hugs*

In this chapter, we'll get to see something scary happen, so ya'll can read it just for that. Also, reflecting on her feelings, things that happened during the time jump (this chapter takes place a little over a month since the last chapter), thoughts and other information that will be important to know for future chapters.

* * *

Thank goodness that Aiden and Father Kahn had run into some traveling obstacles. Well, it wasn't really a good thing, but it sure did relieve Esther somewhat. Wedding arrangements would be put off until their return, thus Esther had some time to contemplate and worry about other things...for now. It was unsure what she would do once Aiden did return. But for now, she would relax and find other things to busy herself with.

She was laying in bed one night, with a terrible headache. These things had happened every once in a while, but for some reason they became more frequent. She figured it was due to all the stress in her life, and now with the added conflict of marriage, they had worsened. They hadn't really been this painful ever since her eye had been mended by Seras's father, who was a strange yet gifted healer.

Also, she began to notice a change in the two village brats, Sheska and Lillian. They seemed a little more...fearful lately. They still were obnoxious as hell to her, but when Esther watched them without them knowing, they were extra jumpy, turning their heads towards every sound around them, being extra surprised when someone approached them. Not only that, but when Maxi first arrived in their village, they ogled over him, but now they became so rude in his presence. The brats probably realized that he was out of their league, saw that he had become friends with Esther, so they decided to lash out at him. It's what they did to anyone who treated her kindly.

Ophelia had calmed down somewhat from their argument about a month ago, though she still didn't trust him very much, and it was obvious. Every time she looked at him, it was a look of disapproval. Esther could only sigh and apologize when Ophelia wasn't around.

But speaking of Maxi, she was starting to find herself more...well, she didn't know how to describe it. Was it fascination? Ever since he had stood up to Ophelia in Esther's defense, she couldn't help it. Perhaps Leah had influenced Esther somewhat. All she knew was that he was indeed attractive, but he in general was starting to enter her thoughts more often. Damn it all, Esther always had a thing for tall dark and handsome individuals.

Not to mention, she'd seen him practicing with his nunchaku a couple times. Since he had recovered quite a bit more since the last time he attempted to use them, he could manage to do a couple things. Most of his maneuvers were basic, but he definitely could handle himself. She had to admit, watching his form swing Soryuju so gracefully in the field had really contributed to her fascination.

Esther felt her head be pushed into the ground by Seras's hand, pointing her sword at her from where she stood over the girl.

"You're not concentrating," Seras observed, keeping her strong grip on Esther's head.

Esther faked limpness as to fool her teacher, then brought her leg up over the elbow belonging to the arm Seras was holding her head down with. Quickly, she managed to make her stumble just a bit, but it was enough for Esther to wriggle her way out and completely swap positions with her. "Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

Seras parried Esther's following sword-strike. "It's been a long time since I was able to put you in that hold. Don't get distracted."

Another headache began to push it's way at her temples. _Oh for hell sakes_, Esther thought. _Not right now!_

They pushed each other back after a long guard against one another, equal strength from each side. Esther lost her balance for one moment, falling to her knee. Seras, like a flash of lightning, darted at Esther's position. She crossed her black blades only inches from Esther's neck, staring down at the girl with her emotionless dark brown eyes.

Esther frowned. Seras sheathed her blades and stepped back. "Now what was that all about?"

"I don't know," Esther put a finger to the aching spot, which was just off from the top of her scar. "These damn headaches..."

A thoughtful look passed over Seras's face. "Hmm. Perhaps you should go home and rest."

"Probably," Esther agreed.

"Esther?"

"Yes?"

Her teacher helped her up. "Are these headaches happening frequently?"

"Yeah. It's a real pain in the ass." She answered, sheathing her own sapphire-colored swords.

"Hmm. If they continue to get any worse, tell me. It might be time to take you to my father for another session again."

"Alright." She began to leave the clearing.

"Be careful on your way back." Seras then offered, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Esther shook her head. "No, I'll be fine."

* * *

The minute Esther came into her village, something was indeed wrong.

"Esther! Help!" She saw Leah screamingly frantically from where she stood. It was apparent that some sort of commotion was going on.

In the center of the trading area, there stood Lillian and Sheska. Normally she would have ignored them, especially now because of the increasing magnitude of this God awful headache, but then she noticed Natasha at their feet, a bruise on her cheek.

Lillian had the girl by her hair, and Sheska had her hand in the air. When she struck the poor girl across the face, that was when Esther had no choice but to intervene.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Esther demanded, smacking Sheska to the ground. The girl fell on her backside, a few surprised tears edging at her eyes.

_Pathetic brat!_ An outraged voice in Esther's head screamed. She was disgusted by the audacity of these girls, and she had been for years now. Violently, she yanked Lillian's hand from her grip on Natasha's hair. She then used her other hand to hold the girl up to the wall by her neck. Her blood felt as if it were boiling with rage. Not only was her rage seemingly uncontrolled towards the two girls, but also at Natasha. She couldn't understand what it was, but she had an urge to kill all of them right on the spot.

The sadistic voice entered her thoughts again, and her eye began to burn. _That's right...kill them...the sword hungers..._

"Esther, stop!" Cried the voice of Leah.

Even that didn't stop her. Her hand began to tighten over Lillian's neck. The girl choked out pleas to let go of her. From behind, Sheska was screaming in terror.

Leah walked over and stood next to her, her face about three inches from Esther's. She bellowed, "Esther! You're killing her! Stop this now!"  
Esther blinked. The voice vanished, and she groggily realized what she was doing. Immediately upon that realization, she released Lillian. The girl fell to the ground, coughing and gasping for air.

"Oh my god..." She backed away, almost afraid of herself. "What the hell..."

"What's wrong with you?" Leah asked, her eyes showing complete shock, but then softening a little once Esther fell to the ground as well.

"Let's get out of here!" Sheska helped her sister up, and the two ran from the area.

Esther continued to pant. "I'm so sorry...I don't...I don't know what happened..."

"I'd say that they totally deserved it, but I think you need to take it easy."

"I know...I don't-" And with that, the head-ache increased, and her vision began to dissipate.

Natasha fixed her eyes on her in a look she had never seen from the girl before. However, she couldn't really describe it, nor think about it too much as she lost consciousness.

* * *

Author's Note-

Esther got a little scary there huh? Though, I think her sister is right. I really don't like those sisters...I think they got what everyone wanted to have happen to them.

I've got the first part of Chapter 8 typed already! ;D


	8. More Arrangements

Author's Note-

Heh, yeah my string of quick updates did not last very long. However, now that it's the weekend, I'll probably be able to get chapter 9 in before Monday.

This chapter is told in Maxi's POV. I know that the lot of you are probably thinking, "ABOUT TIME DAMMIT! I AM TIRED OF THIS MARY-SUE! RAWR!" So, I apologize for how these first couple chapters are so centered around her. Don't worry, it is all for a purpose. Once we get on to the more adventure (which will be the main focus of this story and the biggest arc) it will be more Maxi focused.

Anyways, read on! :)

* * *

**More Arrangements**

* * *

This was the boy that Esther was being arranged to marry? Maxi shook his head. He seemed charming enough, but the way he constantly talked of "God's love for his children" to those around him gave Maxi all the information he needed to know what Esther meant. The two would not make a suitable match.

Aiden Kahn walked by, dipping his head politely in Maxi's direction. The two had hardly talked, but from what Maxi had seen, the boy was full of, well, sunshine and rainbows. Esther had described him as being a man of religion, and she was right. And from all the scary stories about demons and ghosts she and Maxi had shared in the tavern to each other, she sure as hell would not blend with a light such as Aiden's.

Then again, Esther had finally agreed to the marriage, which saddened him somewhat. It wasn't because he was jealous, but Esther had this fiery sense of adventure that reminded him so much of himself. It made him sad to see that her rebellious nature was being extinguished like pouring water to the flame. She had fought this out with Ophelia for so long, and now , tired of the arguing, she surrendered. He refused to understand her decision, because it all seemed so wrong to just accept the situation.

However, who was he to be skeptical? He too had surrendered to a sedimentary life. Even after two years of healing in this village, permanent damage had been done internally. Sure, he could still handle himself in basic combat and get around on his own, but there were many things he had indeed lost the strength to do. That mere fact had really damaged his morale, and despite the tough front he put up, a fair amount of depression had settled in.

"Hello there!" Leah's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey." He sighed, leaning against the fence. He closed his eyes and felt the warm sunlight on his face.

Leah bounded up to him, her dark brown pigtails bouncing around her shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing really."

"That's fun." Leah yawned, leaning on the fence space next to him. "I imagine you've heard about Esther getting married huh."

"Yup."

"Yeah, she's not very happy about it. I would side with her, but then again, I'd rather not become my mom's next public enemy."

Maxi laughed. "She probably doesn't want you talking to me."

"Meh," Leah shrugged. "Not as much as she wants Esther to stay away. Besides, my love for you could never be restricted by the wishes of my mother."

"Um..." He took a couple steps away from her and changed the subject. "How is Esther?" Really he was asking if she was angry at him. They had previously had an argument a couple days ago.

* * *

"Why do you listen to her?" He had asked, looking at her with a somewhat frustrated expression.

It was obvious even Esther didn't understand her decisions, but she painfully answered him, "Because she's my mother. She knows what's best for me, so, I must oblige."

"She isn't your real mother," He pointed out. "And by taking over your life she's not doing what's best for you. Can't you see that?"

"I do but..." She turned away from him. "I'm tired of debating this with her. In this town, I have to do what she says until I am married. Then, I will officially be an adult."

He sighed. "No offense, but that's a dumb law."

"Yeah, well..." She agreed with him, but she chose to stay with her decision. Fighting it any longer would only result in making the pain worse. "Those are the rules, and I have to follow them."

"You used to be so bent on defying her. What happened to you?"

She closed her eyes, not daring to turn to face him for fear of crying. "Please, understand...this is hard enough for me as it is."

"How can I understand?" His voice raised to disbelief. "You're allowing someone to dominate over your life because what? You don't want to argue anymore? Grow a back bone!"

"Just shut up!" She whipped around to face him, trying to look furious, but the tears streaming from her eyes betrayed her. "You wouldn't understand, you've been a free-lance pirate all your life, more generically, a man. You've never had commitments; you've been free to do what ever you wanted your whole life. You wouldn't know anything about the duties that a woman is bound to in society, so don't you lecture me!"

He frowned, and she immediately pushed her way past him to leave.

* * *

Accusing him of having no commitments had indeed stung, but he probably shouldn't have been so harsh. Esther was already in a lot of pain from this, he shouldn't have been stressing the situation by bringing out those feelings from her again. Oh well, it was her decision, and he would have to let her deal with it.

"She's fine. But if you're referring to your argument..."

Maxi muttered. "She told you?"

"She tells me everything," Leah said casually. "If you're wondering, she's not mad at you. She's mad at herself."

He nodded solemnly. Typical Esther; always blaming herself for everything. This was Ophelia's fault, not hers, and that's what made him even more upset. Her foster mother's decision to tromp over the life of someone else in order to "make her happy" was doing the exact opposite.

"Can I see your weapon?"

He looked down at where he kept his nunchaku secured in a sheath around his thigh. He shrugged, sensing that this was just another ruse for her to touch something he had touched, but he decided to let the teenager have the slightest of her fantasies full-filled. He had to admit that it did feel good to be attractive. "Sure..." He handed them to her.

"Sweet!" Maxi knew she made sure to brush fingers with him as she took Soryuju from his hand, not because of how her hand lingered there for just a little too long, but how she winked.

Aye...he thought, folding his arms. Social issues indeed.

"Wow," She said as she played around with them for a bit. "They feel so awkward to me, yet you use them so beautifully."

"Yeah, thanks." He took a step forward. "Be careful though."

Not heeding his warning, Leah became a little more confident in her handling of the nunchaku. In fact, so confident that she decided to start swinging them around. "Wow! These are kind of fun!" Then she hit herself in the face with them.

At first he burst into laughter, but then he had to contain it...somewhat. Maxi couldn't help but smile and chuckle quietly as he took back his nunchaku and inspected where she'd hit herself in the face.

"Ouch," He observed. Brushing away some of her bangs, he saw a little goose bump had formed at her brow. "That looks like it hurts..."

"Yeah," She said. "I should have listened."

"Yep. I told you to be careful."

"I bet if you kiss it I'll feel better-"

"Leah," He heard Esther's voice sigh. "Stop harassing the poor man."

"I'm not harassing him!" Leah protested.

Esther rolled her eyes. "Yes you are."

"Um, it's okay, really," Maxi laughed awkwardly to lighten up the situation. "I let her test out my nunchaku and she hit herself in the face."  
It was easy to tell the older girl was trying so hard not to laugh. An amused snicker threatening to be released from her clenched mouth, she replied. "Oh...hmm...well then, Leah, you should go have Mr. Austerlitz take a look at that."

"Yeah, sure," Leah huffed. "You can have him all to yourself. Oh yeah, you can't because you're getting married soon! Haw haw!" And with that, she limped away in the direction of the healer's small hut, the place where Maxi had spent the first weeks of his stay in Grünortschaft.

Esther then turned to face him and looked at the ground. "Sorry about that...God. I take my eyes off of her for one second and she's harassing every good-looking person of the opposite gender in sight."

Maxi teased. "Oh so you think I'm attractive?"

"Oh...um..." She stammered and blushed, and he couldn't help but laugh. She then tried to change the subject. "It's...not that...um...well...anyways, I wanted to apologize for the other day too."

He waved it off. "Don't sweat it. I understand."

"Good." She sighed, her eyes glancing off in the distance. "I still wish there was some way out of this, but I've already made all the agreements."

For a minute, the two of them were silent.

"So...when will the wedding be?" He asked.

"That will be determined after the meeting today."

"The meeting?"

She sighed. "Yes. Later today Ophelia and I are meeting with Aiden's parents to finalize the arrangement and discuss the wedding."

"I see." He commented, nodding. "That's rough."

"Agreed."

* * *

Sunset had begun to fall, and Maxi found himself relaxing in the town after doing a couple chores around the farm of the man who was allowing him to stay with. The small town outside of Grünortschaft was a bigger settlement than the village itself, but didn't really have a name. All anyone, even those from different villages, called it was "The Outer Town".

The tavern was usually the first place he stopped. Enjoying a small drink after doing tough work was always nice, and it let him take his mind off of his troubles.

Sitting in the back, he noticed someone walk in the entrance. At first he wouldn't have cared, but then he noticed that it was someone who he would never have expected to come in a place such as this.

Without much further description, and after picking up his own drink, Aiden Kahn found the empty spot next to Maxi. He could only look curiously at him for a bit, but then turned his head to the ground to mind his own business.

"Hello."

Maxi looked back up at Aiden, a little confused, but he replied anyways. "Hey."

"I don't normally do this," Aiden said. His freckled cheeks then burned with embarrassment. "In fact, I've never done this before."

"It's just a drink, don't freak yourself out."

Aiden sighed. "I know, I know."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"Seeing as you are the only one listening, do you mind if I complain to you?"

Maxi shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Thank you, my foreign friend." He looked up. "You see, I'm being forced to do something that I don't want to do."

"Yes?"

"My parents are arranging for me to marry Esther Yelchinov, Ophelia Schmidt's adopted daughter. Do you know her?"

"Yes, she's my friend," Maxi's tone of voice changed as he became more interested in what the slightly younger man had to say. "What is the matter?"

"No offense to you, but I don't think I can go through with this. I mean, she's pretty and a kind woman, but she's not for me."

Maxi frowned, an idea coming to his head. "Do you mean to say you would like to call this off?"

"Yes, I have my heart set on another-"

"You do?!"

"Yes...?"

"Then why don't you just marry her instead?" Maxi asked.

Aiden answered, "Because I don't know if she feels the same way...why do you ask?"

* * *

Author's Note-

Cliffhanger! O.M.G. we're all going to die!

Just kidding everyone, just kidding. Calm yo tits.

Anyways, I am currently half way through writing chapter 9, so that should be up soon. Besides, I can't just leave everyone to panic over the cliffhanger! But really, even worse cliffhangers are going to appear so you might want to hold onto your pants.

Please review, it's highly appreciated. Also remember to check out DarkWizard's story, she's an amazing writer and her story is so cute! ;D


	9. Odd Surprises

Author's Note-

Hello everyone! I have brought you chapter 9 to read! In this chapter, something rather strange and unexpected happens, just to spice things up a little! Haha, just kidding. But it is important. I'm super excited because each chapter I post gets me closer and closer to the adventure arc of the story, which will be awesome! Well, at least I hope so. It will at least aim the story away from Esther and more on Maxi so that should make my fellow Mary-Sue haters happy. ^_^

* * *

**Odd Surprises**

* * *

The moment that Esther had been dreading seemed to be dawning on her at a painfully slow pace. Half of her wished to post pone this event for as long as possible, but the other half wanted to get this over with. It was as if a knife was being driven slowly into her heart. A better analogy would say that it was more like a knife being driven into her leg, as the marriage wouldn't kill her, as life wasn't so merciful. No, the knife would be in her leg, impairing her forever, and she would have to live with the pain until she died. Ophelia claimed that in time she would learn to love Aiden, but Esther didn't see it happening. What wasn't meant to be simply wasn't meant to be. Perhaps after he would become tired of her, they could get a divorce, and Esther would leave Grünortschaft at once.

Here she was, wearing some ridiculous dress that Ophelia had forced her to wear, as wearing pants to such a occasion like meeting with Aiden's parents was not proper. Esther already had hated the thing before she put it on. The corset was so tight that she could barely breathe, and the skirts were so layered that moving her legs took a great deal of concentration.

"How am I supposed to walk in this thing?" Esther growled to herself.

Leah gave a much unnecessary answer from her room next door. "You don't. You waddle."

"Very funny, Leah." Esther replied sarcastically.

"I thought so."

Rolling her eyes, she took one last look in the mirror. One would say that the dress was actually quite beautiful with it's midnight blue, silky appearance embroidered with golden rose petal shapes on the sleeves and edges of the skirt, but Esther felt ridiculous. This was not her. Hell, the marriage was already taking away her identity as a free spirited, unmarried woman. The dress only made it worse.

Ophelia would be returning from the outer town soon to take Esther to their meeting with the Kahns. Since she had not arrived yet, Esther had a couple minutes to contemplate her approaching unhappiness. She decided to find somewhere quiet to play her violin; probably the only enjoyable thing she had that she wouldn't have to give up after the marriage.

There was a place in the back part of the garden where a massive tree grew. Its trunk had a little nook in it, where Esther would often sit in when she wanted to be alone, read or as of right now, just play her violin as a means to relax.

Sitting down, she rested the instrument on her shoulder and put her jaw to the chin rest. Esther had always treasured the violin. It used to be her mother's, her real mother's that is. When she was five, her mother decided to teach her to play, telling her that music gives a person their identity and allows others to hear your soul. As Esther played the violin, she felt like her real mother was there beside her, playing beautifully like she always had.

Her favorite songs to play were typically old and nameless Russian folk songs, which were usually dark and sad sounding. Of course those were the ones that she chose to play at that moment, as she was feeling rather exasperated and depressed.

"Huh. I didn't know you played."

Esther 'eeped', completely unaware that someone was there. "Oh...hi Maxi."

"Seriously," He shook his head, half-smiling. "I've known you for almost three years and I had no idea."

"Yeah, well," She shrugged. "I don't get to play as often nowadays, and I don't go around broadcasting it."

"Why not? It's beautiful."

She blushed at the compliment, but at the same time felt her heart squeeze in her chest. _Why do you have to do that to me?! Stop being so cute!_ "Heh...thanks. So what do you need? Better make it quick because Ophelia will be home soon, and if she sees you talking to me she'll throw a broomstick through your brain."

"A pleasant image," He remarked. "I just found out something that may perk your interest."

"What's that?"

"You know Aiden Kahn?"

"I'm kind of getting married to him."

"I talked to him just a while ago."

She sat up straighter. "You did? What happened?"

"It turns out, he doesn't want in on the marriage either. Apparently he's interested in someone else."

"Really?!"

Another voice interrupted their conversation. "Esther! It's time to go!"

"Dammit...there she is." Esther sighed.

Ophelia began to walk towards them. "I hope you're not getting that dress dirty. Why are you out here..." Her brown eyes then shifted to Maxi. "I thought I told you to stay away from my daughter."

"Right ma'am, sorry about that." He said it politely, but Esther could tell by the way his eyes were narrowed that he didn't mean it.

Ophelia only scowled, whisking Esther away. She looked behind her shoulder at him, nervously listening to the words he whispered at her.

"Don't worry, everything will work out. Trust me."

* * *

The Kahn's certainly had a nice place to live. They must have been a wealthy family, due to their three level house that was on the borderline to being a mansion. Expensive décor filled the interior; large paintings, jeweled chandeliers, lovely rugs and intricate tapestries were in every room. At least she'd be living a rich life after she got married.

They sat in their living area on fine and plush couches facing across from each other. Ophelia and Esther sat on one, while the Kahn's sat across from them on the other couch.

They had begun their meeting by discussing what each family would be contributing to the union of Esther and Aiden, and later moved onto different responsibilities that they would take on in case if something unexpected were to happen. Eventually, they discussed things that Esther didn't understand at all, and found herself falling asleep with her eyes open.

"So, for the wedding," Ophelia said. "Is there a specific spot you would like to hold the after ceremony?"

"Perhaps the meadow near Village Chairman Heinrich's estate? The stars are particularly beautiful there, and it would make for a lovely ceremony." Suggested Mrs. Kahn. Esther noticed that through most of the meeting, it was mainly Mrs. Kahn and Ophelia discussing the arrangement; Mr. Kahn was quite a silent man.

Ophelia nodded. "I agree. I was about to suggest the same."

"And does your daughter agree as well?"

_Does it even matter what I think?_ Esther wanted to say, but she held the bitter attitude back. Instead, she replied, "Sure. What better place for a ceremony."

"Great! Then it's settled. After the marriage in the chapel, we'll invite all of the village to the meadow and have a most glorious ceremony." Mrs. Kahn said, clapping her hands together excitedly.

"Oh and don't worry about paying for any of the wedding. We can cover the whole thing." Mr. Kahn added.

Ophelia looked up. "Are you sure? I am capable of helping out with the..."

"Really, it's fine. We have enough money as it is, so we might as well save you the trouble and put it into one of the happiest days our families will ever know."

Esther rubbed the side of her head awkwardly and fake smiled.

"Oh Esther, I am so glad to have you joining our family. I know that arranged marriages can be scary, but Aiden is happy to know you are the one that God has destined for him!"

Esther was vomiting on the inside. _God?! No. This is not what God has destined. This is what overly traditional parents destined_. And Aiden isn't happy either. Whatever Maxi meant by "everything will work out", she just hoped it happened soon because she was tired of listening to this bull crap.

Luckily, her anxiety was quickly answered at that thought.

Once the parents began to negotiate living situations, the door to their living room was flung open, and Aiden came striding in.

"Dearest mother, father," he dipped his head to his parents politely. He then noticed Esther and Ophelia and bowed slightly to them. "Good evening, Mrs. Schmidt and miss Esther. Pardon the intrusion."

_By all means, do whatever you're going to do that's supposed to get me out of this_. Esther thought.

"Aiden, what is the matter?"

He stood up straight, looking at everyone in the room. "I see that you are in the middle of discussing the wedding, and I apologize for my next declaration." He then sighed. "I cannot marry Esther."

The room was silent for a solid five seconds.

"What?" Mrs. Kahn blinked.

"I cannot marry miss Esther."

Mrs. Kahn shook her head. "But...Aiden, we talked about this. Besides, don't you think you are being inconsiderate to your fiance?"

Esther stood up and denied it. "No, he's absolutely fine in his decision. You see, I don't want to marry him either." She didn't know his reasons, but she didn't care; she jumped at whatever chance she could in order to get out of this.

"Esther..." Ophelia began to say.

"Why?" Asked Mr. Kahn. "Can you not see what a wonderful young lady we have arranged for you to marry?"

"It is no fault of Esther's. In fact, I would have no problem with her, as she is both kind and lovely." Aiden said, giving Esther a look with his eyes that let her know that he meant what he said, and didn't mean to cause any offense to her. "However, I have my heart set on another."

"You do?!"

"Why didn't you ever tell us this?"

Ophelia frowned. "What the hell...?"

"Hell yeah!"

Everyone stared at Esther and her enthusiasm, and she merely shrugged.

"I didn't want to discuss it because...well, I didn't think you would approve. And also, I was too hesitant to ask her if she reflected my feelings..."

Mrs. Kahn raised her eyebrows. "So, if that's the case, you don't want to marry Esther and she doesn't want to marry you, and you have feelings for another woman, than may we know who it is?"

He stepped away from the door to reveal Natasha Franco, and Esther became so confused that she began to question the world's existence.

"Natasha Franco?" Ophelia was in just the same amount of disbelief as Esther. "That orphan that lives with the Heinrich's?"

"Damn..." Esther remarked to herself. "God works in mysterious ways after all. Never saw that coming."

"Yes. I have asked for her hand in marriage, and she has accepted." Aiden responded, taking Natasha's smaller hand in his.

Mrs. Kahn stood up, still shaking her head in disbelief. "Then...I suppose the deal is off."

"But what about all the things we discussed?" Ophelia asked.

"That will have to be as if it never happened. We cannot force our son to marry someone when he already has chosen another."

"Another that has chosen him in return as well." Esther added.

Mrs. Kahn nodded. "Precisely."

"Ah..." Ophelia was seemingly speechless, and Esther continued to stride past her foster mother and over to Natasha.

Looking upon the girl's face, she noticed the bruise on her forehead that was still taking it's time to heal, and she remembered the day when she had caught Sheska beating on the poor Natasha. Aiden's feelings for this girl had just done two people two different services; Esther would no longer be forced into a life that didn't suit her, and perhaps this would be Natasha's chance at getting away from her abusive friends. Natasha's normally sad, jade eyes now showed glimmers of happiness.

"I'm happy for you, hopefully now you can seperate yourself from Sheska and Lillian," She whispered to the girl, patting her gently on the shoulder. She then turned to Ophelia. "It is probably best that we exit now."

Ophelia sighed and complied. "Yes..I believe that would be appropriate."

"And I suppose there is no reason to impress anyone with this corset." Esther said, reaching behind her back and loosening one of the strappings. "Oh...sweet, sweet air..."

* * *

Author's Note-

Yay! Esther doesn't have to get married to Aiden anymore!

And to acknowledge any questions of whether she has feelings for Maxi, I will answer yes. I have tried to make it obvious that she does in fact like him a little, but she's not completely head over heels in love with him. And to answer the interrogations of the Mary-Sue police, I have tried to make it apparent that he isn't head over heels for her either. In fact, his feelings about her are completely unknown. Even I, the writer, doesn't know, so calm your tits.

Also, I would like to explain the character Ophelia. As stubborn as her decision to make Esther a proper lady, she isn't the typical "wicked step-mother". In fact, I've tried to emphasize the fact that she loves Esther as if she were truly her child and is only trying to do what she believes will benefit her foster daughter as her own. However, her stubborness and need to be right causes a lot of stress and conflict between her and Esther. In fact I may have based her off of my own mom just a little, well the rebellious daughter vs. stubborn mom relationship anyways. Their beliefs and personalities just clash a lot, but they both love each other. And again, before I get shot by the Mary-Sue police, Esther is not based on me at all. I wish I was like her, but I'm not. The only similarity we share is our rebellious nature-found in most young girls.

Wow...I've never felt the need to explain so many aspects to my fanfiction before...xD


	10. Changes

Author's Note-

Yay! I was finally able to update this chapter. I'm getting so excited...we're getting so close to the adventure arc/pure badassery arc. Just a couple more chapters. This chapter and the next chapter to come were originally going to be one chapter, but it would have been REALLY REALLY long. I tend to post shorter chapters than most, but trust me, it would have taken you a good two hours to get through this one had I not split it up.

Anyways, expect to see some more filler stuff in this chapter, but it's still a part of this story to pay attention too. In fact, all of the little details are what you need to be paying attention to, no matter how insignificant they seem. Why, you ask? Because everything I write in this story I write for a reason, and you'll know why when certain events come to take place...I wish I could tell you but I can't, you'll just have to keep reading! *evil laugh*

Also, I must thank Darkwizard yet again for her constructive reviews and her continued support through this story! You are amazing! *heart* You are my inspiration and you keep me writing! :D

* * *

Changes

* * *

After the marriage had been called off, both Esther and Ophelia decided that it would be best if she found somewhere else to live. Reasoning that the constant conflict between the two would eventually cause permanent damage in their relationship and that Esther wasn't truly Ophelia's daughter and thus had the right to choose whom she lived with, she moved out of the home into the home of Seras. It was a bit saddening to leave those whom had filled in as her family for so many years, but it was necessary. She knew that if she stayed with Ophelia any longer, the argument of marriage would have popped up again, which Esther was sick of, and so was Ophelia.

However, she wouldn't be completely separated from them; Seras only lived a mile or so away from them, so Esther would visit Ophelia and Leah everyday, help them out with the garden and even took the time to help Leah with her studies.

Because she lived with Seras, Esther had more time to practice with her teacher, and had now been taught everything that Seras had to offer. All she had to do now was keep practicing. She wasn't sure what she would do with her sword skills; she had always wanted to travel the world in search of evil so she could destroy it, but something was keeping her in Grünortschaft. There were too many people that she didn't want to leave, such as Ophelia, Leah, Seras, and she couldn't bear to leave Maxi either. He had been the one that encouraged her to go out on the adventures she dreamed of having, so it didn't seem fair to leave him behind; after all, that used to be his life. Perhaps once she was able to, she could begin her adventures by helping him find his friends.

Not only was she reluctant to leave those she cared for, but Seras had advised her that before she took off anywhere, they needed to find a solution to these headaches she was having. They hadn't occurred very frequently, but they still happened. And when they happened, they were dangerous. One time when she was riding one of Seras's horses when one occurred, and she ended up falling off the horse because she had blacked out. Another time she nearly fell down the staircase because of one. They had consulted Seras's father, Klaus Albreicht, about them and received medicine, but it had only served to ease the pain they brought. Since then, he had been working dutifully in order to find a better, hopefully permanent cure.

Nevertheless, she had begun to like her life a lot more as time passed by. Perhaps it was the independence that Seras allowed her to have...well, it was more of a matter of Seras telling Esther that she wasn't her mom, so she wasn't going to fix any stupid things Esther did, so she, as in Esther, better be smart. Or maybe it was because she wasn't trapped in a house where her personality could go to war with Ophelia's. It could have been that she was finding her purpose in life now. She knew that she had a chance at seeing the world, and she knew where she was going to start. It was only a matter of building up the means to do so.

"So, how is Seras?" Asked Leah one day, as they closed books and put away papers that Esther had been helping Leah study.

"She's been doing well," Esther answered. "I haven't been able to see her much lately."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"She's been traveling all over the kingdom, doing this and that. The army has called her in a couple times to finish up old business, required some of her services in the skirmishes at the northeastern borders, and she's been going to her fathers house a lot to help him out."

"Did they ever find anything to get rid of those headaches you've been having?" The girl asked.

Esther shook her head. "No, but Klaus is still working on it. Seras said that he's been working day and night on it. It makes me feel guilty but I appreciate the care that he has for me."

"Has anything scary happened?"

"What do you mean?"

Leah looked at the books she was piling up, obviously wary of the subject. "You know, scary. Like that one time when Lillian and Sheska were beating on Natasha, and you nearly killed Lillian...I mean, she totally deserved it, but I had never seen that side of you before."

"Oh yeah..." Esther tried to forget that day. Her own actions had scared her quite a bit, and since then the two girls were terrified of her, yet no punishment had ever come. "I don't even know what came over me...it was as if I were possessed or something. Had I been in the conscious state that I'm in now, I would never even think of such a thing. But no, nothing like that has happened. I've just blacked out a couple times or had to go to sleep for the day."

"I see."

"Speaking of Natasha, how has she been?"

Leah shrugged. "Fine, I suppose. I never have liked the shy little ferret, but I'll admit that I'm happy for her. Aiden and her make a very cute couple and it seems like she's happy."

"That's good." Esther nodded. "He's a good man, I suppose if I had ended up marrying him, I could have learned to love him eventually."

"Maybe. I can't believe Mom hasn't set me up with anyone yet."

"Well, have you asked her about it?"

"Yeah..."

"What did she say?"

Leah crossed her arms and pouted. "I asked her if she could set me up with that hunk of a babe Maxi, but she said no and told me that I had some things to work out before I was getting set up with anyone."

"That's rough," Esther said it only for Leah's sake, but in her head she was applauding for Ophelia. For once she agreed with her foster mother. Perhaps some parenting maneuvers had been figured out during her whole battle with Esther. But all in all, Leah needed to learn to be nice to those outside her family, Ophelia didn't like Maxi, Maxi wasn't interested in Leah plus he was too old for her, and not to mention, incredibly bizarre. "Mom doesn't really like him anyways, so perhaps there is someone else you find yourself particularly interested in?"

"It's hard to compare to Maxi, but maybe. Viktor Deldevich. I dunno."

"Ooh the son of those Russian folk who moved here last year?" Esther smiled deviously. "He's cute. And because he's Russian then you already have my approval."

Leah laughed. "Hah, good to know. But..."

"What is it?"

"Well," the younger girl shrugged. "I'm pretty sure I've already creeped him out."

Esther feigned shock. "No way..."

"Oh shut up." Leah teasingly punched Esther in the arm. "I can't help that I'm so bad at getting along with others."

"Eh," She shrugged. "You'll learn eventually. Hopefully. Maybe."

"Comforting."

Esther then stood up and stretched, patting her foster sister on the head. "Well, I'm sorry to hear of your troubles, and I hope things work out for you. You have my support, but for now I've got one last chore to do for Seras."

"What's that?"

"I've just got to collect some water from the river."

"Ah well, have fun with that."

* * *

Carrying a large ceramic water pitcher in both hands, she headed westward, to the river. In her hand she grasped the reins of her horse, Smoky, as she lead him behind her. Smoky wasn't really her horse, he actually belonged to Seras, but while Esther lived with Seras he had become the horse she typically rode. He was a big black mustang with a beautiful, shadowy coat and a rather gentle personality. Esther much preferred him to any of the other wild beasts that Seras owned, as Esther was quite scared of horses for some reason. Something about their massive rear ends and how they were always quite ready to leave a smoldering pile of shit where ever they went instantly caused her to be wary of them. She did not do horse shit.

Once she reached the river, she saw someone she didn't quite expect to see there. Maxi stood there, his back turned to her. It was apparent that he hadn't noticed her arrive. He seemed rather focused on something, but she didn't quite see what it was until she noticed that he was staring at the river, appearing to be in some sort of trance.

_He must be remembering his slain comrades and the friends he used to travel with_. She immediately felt bad for him. It must have really sucked to have to be stuck here, his body not allowing him to go off on expeditions like it once had. During his stay he had seemed cheerful enough, but there had to be times when he longed for his old life on the seas, exploring different countries and whatnot. There were times when she longed for her old home in Russia, her parents, and her whole childhood in general. That monster had ripped that away from her, and she'd been sent to live in a completely different country, different culture, and left to a family that differed so much from the one she'd originally been raised in. Deidrich, Ophelia and Leah had been a great family for her; they were kind, welcoming and cared for her just like any loving family would. However, every family values different things and has different ways of doing things, especially in different countries. It was all still a situation she still had to grow more and more accustomed to every day, and she'd been living in Grünortschaft for about ten years. She knew what he was feeling.

"Hi." She said, announcing her presence at the scene.

He jolted slightly, obviously a bit surprised to see her there. He turned to face her, "Oh, hey Esther."

"What's going on?" She asked, though she already knew.

"Nothing really. You caught me in one of my 'flashbacks' again."

She smiled. "Yeah, I have." She then noticed he carried Soryuju in his arms. "I see you've got your nunchaku there. Were you practicing?"

"A little, yeah. I got a bit distracted though."

"It's alright, it happens to me too." A moment of silence passed before she continued. "Funny...this is the exact same spot I found you."

"It's part of the reason I got distracted. I didn't notice until I got halfway into my self-training session. "

"I see. It's weird to think that was nearly three years ago."

"It doesn't seem that far off."

She nodded. "Time passes quickly when your in a state of settling."

"As I've discovered."

"Were you thinking about your friends?"

"Indeed. I mean, I've made new ones here in this village, but...I still have memories once in a while."

"I understand. I still think of my real parents sometimes."

She took a couple steps forward so they were standing side by side, looking out over the river.

"However," He said after a couple more seconds of silence. "I can deal with it. So long as Astaroth is dead and my friends and brother avenged, I can be at peace. I'll always have a longing for the sea, but my soul can rest here, in this quiet village."

"I should take after your example. Sometimes I can feel so restless here."

"You'll get to have your adventures one day. All you need is a little more patience so you can get all the supplies you need and free yourself from anything that is holding you back right now."

She shook her head. "Not just me. I need to prepare for the both of us."

"Us?"

"Hell yeah, I'm taking you with me." She stated.

"Oh yes, that's right. You're supposedly going to help me find my friends."

"Yep!" She said, "Besides, it wouldn't be very nice of me to leave you all alone with these people. My sister and the other swooning village girls would never stop harassing you."

"You and I have a very different definition of harassing. I appreciate their attention."

"I think I figured that out when you winked at that one girl the other day." Esther replied dryly.

He shrugged. "Hey, it's not my fault that I'm attractive. I probably made that girl's day too."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Is that jealousy I hear?"

She tried to look unimpressed, "Oh shut up. So, do you want to duel me?"

"What?"

"I want to see how those nunchaku fair in a fight against a swordsmen. I bet it looks awesome."

"It does, trust me. Sometimes I wish I could be the bystander watching."

"So egotistical."

"I was kidding. Damn, talk about attitude."

"So was I, talk about sensitivity."

He put an end to their pretend argument which they often had to amuse themselves and each other. "Alright, enough. Let's do this. I'm still wondering why you have your swords with you."

"Why not? After that whole ally incident I don't ever leave them at home."

* * *

Author's Note-

Honestly, I'm way fucking excited to put up the next chapter. I can't even tell you why because it will ruin events to come, and it's killing meh!

Again, just a reminder to pay attention to little details. There were about three things I hinted in there, for three separate events to come. There's probably know way that you'll know it right now, but if you keep paying attention, you'll probably see it just before it happens.

I should be putting up more artwork for this story soon. I just sketched a badass picture of Esther and Maxi fighting some lizard men. That sounded egotistical...um well I find it badass because for my first time attempting a scene like that, it turned out pretty well, much to my surprise. Anyways, find me on deviantart, SPAZTASTYCK.

Please review, I love knowing what I can do to improve because it shows that my readers truly care. I see I have a lot of views and people reading, but only one person (that awesome individual being Darkwizard) reviewing!

Speaking of her, please check out her stories as well! The Tiger and the Dragon and Soul Calibur High. The first one is so cute, and SC High is so funny! She also has a deviantart account, darkwizardl. (Her Renji picture is totes amazing!)


	11. The Duel

Author's Note-

Yay! I am so glad I was able to get this written before Thanksgiving break was over. Speaking of, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and enjoyed the break, because it's over now. Ahhh I'm so sad that it ends today. R.I.P. freedom. :(

I am also sad to go back to school because today I found out that my favorite teacher was killed yesterday, so RIP to him too. :'( I'll save you the drama of my life, but if you want to check out the story, you can go to to see what I am talking about. (I commented on it, I'm Cupcake Panda lol)

Anyways, I was excited to write this chapter because of their duel! I was like "YAYYYYYY I GET TO WRITE ABOUT MAXI BEING AWESOME!" Just imagine my enthusiasm when we get to other scenes of badassness in chapters to come! :D

More clues are shown in this chapter too, their pretty obvious and you'll know them when you see them haha. ^_^

* * *

The Duel

* * *

"Ready whenever you are," Maxi said, a playful smile on his face as he readied himself.

His fighting stance was rather different from hers. It wasn't just the fact that their weapons were extremely diverse, but that it had a whole different flow to it. He kept his body completely sideways towards her, which seemed a bit odd but all together it made it so he wasn't leaving his front open, and for the weapon he was using it made him light on his feet.

Her stance was vastly differing, as in the art of double fencing, the fighting stance was very basic with just a few tweaks here and there to make it its own. One foot was set back, keeping her offensive hand behind her defensive side. She gripped Krystalia, her defensive sword, in one hand and held it in front of her while keeping Reykar lightly in her other hand.

She would have to take extra precautions, as her weapons were a lot more...well, sharper than his.

"Make sure that you don't hold back because I'm a girl," She teased as they began to circle each other.

"I watched you beat two highwaymen senseless in an alley without those swords before. I don't think holding back would be a wise move on my part."

She smiled somewhat wickedly. "I'm glad you've noted it. I take take pride in my work."

"Apparently..."

Maxi was the one to begin the actual dueling. She blocked numerous swings from his nunchaku. His fighting style was very smooth, as he was able to move so quickly but able to deliver powerful strikes. She could still pick out parts where he faltered somewhat, which was specifically on his right side where he had been injured the most when she first found him. It was amazing that even in these conditions he was able to hold up as well as he did; she could only imagine how fierce of a warrior he used to be.

Crossing her blades to guard against a rather impacting blow from Maxi, she ground them apart from each other to push him back with a headbutt, but missed. Seconds before it happened, she saw him drop to a slight crouching position to knock her off her feet with a low kick across her ankles. She was knocked on her rear, but luckily had her swords up and ready for the attack he had prepared to follow with.

While locked in an intense clash between swords and nunchaku, he panted out. "Here's a question. Why are you holding back?"

"What?"

"Don't try to play dumb. I saw the look in your face as I tripped you."

He was right. She totally could have parried that, but didn't for fear of hurting him. "Sorry..." Was all she said before pushing him off of her with her feet and rolling back to a standing position.

As soon as she was back on her feet, she charged his flank. He reacted only at the last moment, attempting to stun her in the ribs with his elbow. He actually did land a hit on her, but only because her only defense against that would've been to cut off his arm, which she kind of wanted him to keep.

She reacted by flipping his weight out underneath him with a sweeping kick to the shin, putting him on the ground. Before she could put her sword to him in 'surrender position', he managed to roll out of the way and put a few meters between them.

A pain throbbed at her temples again. The same kind of pain had irritated her somewhat when she had first woke up this morning, so she had

taken some medicine and it hadn't bothered her until now.

_The sword hungers..._

Another flash of pain hit her when she dodged one of Maxi's signature knock-you-on-your-ass kicks. What the hell...she thought. Was that her thinking that?

She didn't have time to think of that as she dived between and under Maxi's open legs during one of his strikes, pushing her body back up from her arms to land a rather concentrated kick right in the center of his spine. _Shit!_

He cried out slightly, collapsing on his knee, clutching his side.

"Shit, shit, shit..." She immediately came to his aid, worriedly scanning him for anything she could do to help. "Oh god...I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

Maxi shook his head, trying to pull a smile through the pain he was clearly in. "No worries, it wasn't the kick to the back that got me. I think I may have stressed something when I tried to get out of that."

"I shouldn't have pulled a rocket kick on you," She then cursed at herself. "God...I'm such an idiot."

"No really, that was awesome. I've only seen a technique like that only one other time in my life. I saw it coming, so I tried to use some abdomen strength to disperse some of the impact, and as you can see it didn't work out," He laughed at the end of his sentence.

She shook her head at herself but shrugged. "Whatever you say. Damn, watching you use that thing on your own didn't compare to what I just experienced. You're fighting style is very unique, and it's probably the only style that I've seen keep up with mine."  
"You mean you've dueled other types of warriors?"

"Yes. I once fought a student who used a longer, two handed blade, a man who used a backhanded dagger, and another amateur double ax user."

He nodded. "Interesting. What are the scores for those fights?"

"I won against the student with the sword and the amateur, but the dagger guy pretty much handed my ass to me."

"You win some, you lose some," Maxi remarked. "When I was younger, and a lot stupider, I thought I could win a fight against this man who used bladed nunchaku. He handed my ass to me as well."

She chuckled. "It's unfortunate that only by being defeated in such a humiliating way is the only way one can really improve."

"Agreed," He laughed. "Sometimes I wish I-"

His words were cut off as she finally crashed to the ground. Suddenly the flashes of intense pain were closing in on her yet again, and her body began to spasm. White lights filled her vision, almost blinding her but at the same time making her noxious.

_Kill...it hungers..._

She felt the need to vomit, but held it in as not to look completely disgusting in front of Maxi, but also because she didn't have the energy. _Shut up..._She told the voice. _Just shut the hell up..._

"Dammit," Maxi steadied her body, which she no longer had control of. Her eyes began to flit as she felt blackness falling upon her yet again.

"Hang on!"

"I need..." She used what little strength she had left to deliver her message. "...need...Seras...take me..."

"Shh...I'll get you there, just hang on." He scooped her into a cradling position and began to move her to the black stallion that was waiting patiently by the river bed. "Damn, these things seem to pop out of no where, don't they."

_It hungers..._

* * *

Maxi hadn't ridden a horse in a long time, but luckily Esther's fear of horses had ensured that the one she had brought would be a rather calm and obedient horse. He had set her in front of him, resting the back of her head against his chest while he held the reins from under her arms to keep her from slipping. The black mustang took off at a sprint, but at least his gate was smooth enough that it didn't shake the girl from Maxi's hold.

Upon arriving at Seras's home, he gently pulled her off the horse after he dismounted and carried her to the front door. He knocked loudly and hurriedly, as Esther needed immediate medical attention.

"Seras!" He called. "Seras! Are you in there?"

The door opened to show the red-haired, middle aged woman. "Yes?" She then noticed the unconscious Esther in his arms. "Uh oh, she blacked out again. Come, bring her in. Quickly."

He did what she commanded, and proceeded into the house. Seras led him to Esther's room, where he laid the girl on the bed in there. Seras left briefly to get a cloth and some cold water. When she returned, she began pressing the damp cloth against Esther's forehead.

"Will she be okay?"

"I think so. She just needs to rest." She then appeared to be surprised by something. "I take that back..."

"What is it?" He asked, walking over to see what was wrong. He then saw the bloodied cloth that Seras had been previously pressing to Esther's head. Blood was welling up out of the side of Esther's eye, the one that had a scar on it specifically, and falling in a small stream like a tear drop.

"This is not good...not good at all." Seras frowned. She then stood up and walked over to a desk in the room and began packing some things up. "It's become clear that the ritual must be repeated."

"What do you mean?"

Seras shook her head. "I'm afraid that is not for you to know."

"Alright..." He was confused, but let it go for the moment.

"Will you lift her for me? We're going to put her in the cart outside."

He lifted up Esther's body back into his arms while Seras grabbed a blanket and a sack of supplies. She opened the door for him, and they continued outside. He laid her body back down on the cart, resting her head lightly on a small pile of hay in the cart. Seras tucked the blanket around Esther before hopping into the driver's seat of the cart, which was hooked up to two large brown horses.

"Where are you taking her?" He asked.

"To my father's house," Seras answered, gathering the reins and whip.

"May I come with you?"

She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but you may not. I appreciate your help in getting her here, and I understand your concern, but this is secret. Do not even tell anyone about what happened to her or any of this, please."

He gave her a confused look, but complied, nodding. "Okay...I guess I'll wait here."

"Thank you for understanding." Seras then cracked the whip, taking off.

As he watched them leave, he saw Esther riding peacefully in the back. Her eyes opened slightly to look at him, and all he could do was look back.

He then squinted, noticing something very strange, stranger than Seras's secretive behavior.

Was her right eye glowing red...?

* * *

As Esther slowly opened her eyes, she saw snow falling gently all around her. She couldn't feel the flakes landing on her face or the nip of the deep snow she knew she was laying in. Funny, it was summertime, and last time she checked it didn't snow during the summers in Germany.  
But this wasn't Grünortschaft. In fact, this was her old home in Russia. Once she had stood up, she noticed that she was just standing outside the front door of the medium sized house that she used to live in.

She looked into the big front room window, hoping to see her parents inside. There was nothing, in fact the entire house was empty.  
Movement to her left gave itself away with a the whooshing sound of snow being suddenly disturbed. Whipping around, three snowmen began to form. No, they weren't snowmen.

They were three Astaroths! And they were charging right at her!

Esther screamed, looking for something to defend herself with. She looked down at her hands, seeing that her swords had suddenly materialized there. Without a second thought, she came whirling at them with the speed of a typhoon. Satisfaction filled her heart as she felt the blades slice cleanly across critical parts of each monster.

_The darkness is already within you...very good..._

That satisfaction changed to confusion as she watched them become snowmen once again, only this time they toppled over and were blown away by the wind. A shadowy figure appeared in the window of the house, standing rather ominously still.

"Hello?" She called at the figure.

It did nothing but stand there.

"Pay no attention to it, Esther," Said a rather familiar voice. She turned around to see her mother, who wore the same dress that she had been killed in. A bloody slash still crossed from her shoulder to her chest, but the wound couldn't be seen; instead the width of where the wound should have been seen was glowing slightly.

"Mom?"

The woman merely looked onward to fix a stern look on the figure in the window. "Not quite."

"I don't understand...is this a dream?"

"That is for you to discover. I've come to tell you something very important."

Esther didn't like how her question wasn't answered, but sighed and complied."Like what?"

The woman then stared deeply into Esther's eyes. "Something very wrong has been done to you, Esther. Your soul has been tainted."

"What?"

"There will be countless deaths. Slaughtering. You must not let the shard control you. You must not let it feed from you. And most important, you must not let it find the shard."

"No disrespect mother...person, but what in the fu-"

The shadowy figure appeared only twenty meters in front of them.

"I have to go now. Heed my warning."

Esther called after the being that resembled her mother. "Where are you going?! Don't leave me alone with that creepy thing over there!"

* * *

Her eyes slowly blinked open to see the ceiling of the room she had at Seras's house. It was a dream after all. A very strange and disturbing one indeed.

It was apparent that she had been asleep for quite sometime, by the way that mere reality seemed so unreal and how her body felt heavier than normal. She rubbed her eyes and stretched, sitting up. Still groggy, she could only make out the shape of Maxi sitting across from her at her desk.

"Oh, hey." She yawned.

"Hey."

Esther scanned her surroundings. "How long was I out?"

"Two days," He answered casually. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a horse kicked me in the back of the head, but I'm holding up. That was a nasty one."

He looked down. "There's something I need to ask you, it has to do with what Seras did to treat you."

"What did she do?"

"Well she took you to her father's house, but told me I couldn't come with her. Plus she was acting funny, saying something about a ritual."

"A ritual, eh?" Esther sighed. "Unfortunately I'm not supposed to talk about that either."

He nodded. "I see. Then can you answer me this, does it have to do with your eye? I noticed that it began bleeding when Seras was tending to you, and it freaked her out."

"Yes..." She hesitated a bit to answer it, but decided that it would be okay to let him have that information. "The process in which my eye was healed is to remain a secret."

A few moments of silence passed between them.

"So..." He changed the subject, probably picking up on the fact that was the only question that was going to get answered. "It appears that we've switched places."

"What do you mean?" She then laughed, as she realized he was referring to when they first met. "It looks like we have."

* * *

Author's Note-

Ermehgerd! That was fun to write. I hope ya'll see why I was excited for this chapter. Tell me, what do you think is going on? I would like you hear your theories! The plot is unfolding, each chapter takes us closer and closer to it! :D

I've decided on some theme songs. I was listening to some epic music to help me get into the mood of writing, and I have found myself some songs that I would like to have for my characters and for this story. Some of that music has inspired new parts of the story line too :D

Anyways, here they are.

Esther's theme song-Soulseeker by Thomas Bergersen

This story's theme song-Glimmer of Hope by Ivan Torrent

Esther and Maxi on their adventures!-Winterspell by Two Steps From Hell


End file.
